What do Oprah, the US Secretary of Transportation, the Triple A, insurance companies and, state governors have in common?

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Thursday, May 20th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

The US Transportation Department just proposed to forbid text messaging while driving by interstate truck and bus drivers. This regulatory action follows up on its public service program to reduce distractions that lead to crashes.

The proposal would make permanent the temporary ban put in place in January by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The planned ban applies to drivers of passenger buses and commercial trucks operating vehicles with a gross vehicle weight over ten thousand pounds. As an indication of the scope of the issue, violators could be facing civil penalities and/or even criminal penalties.

The US Department of Transportation reports almost 6,000 people died and about 515,000 were injured in 2008 in crashes connected to driver distraction. They has not determined how many of those deaths and injuries were linked to mobile device. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reflects the Transportation Department statistics with projection that about eighty percent of accidents are caused by driver distraction. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is sponsoring research to find out the extent of the distraction problem. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) states that driver inattention is a determining factor in many crashes, and cell phone calls and texting are leading causes of driver distractions.

States aren’t waiting for research reports and are passing new laws dealing with mobile phone calls and texting . The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that twenty states and Washington DC ban drivers of all types of vehicles from sending text messages while behind the wheel. Another nine states restricting texting by beginner drivers. Most states are expected to implement the ban eventually. However it is also believed that the laws are not enough to stop the problem and technical solutions are neede. The GHSA says it supports texting bans for all drivers, but has doubts about enforcement.

An interesting company with a monitoring solution is Phone Beagle. Their software installs on Android and BlackBerry mobile phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other phone log events.

The trucking and passenger bus trade associations support the texting ban, and many corporations have firm policies against texting when behind the wheel. The government, industry and safety organizations have found common ground that distracted drivers caused bytexting is a menace to society, and deserves action. Advocates for addressing the problem also include media powerhouse Oprah.

Undoubtedly there are numerous distractions which may prevent a driver focusing on driving: fiddling with the radio or a finding a tape or CD, talking to passengers, rubber necking, and of course, using cellphones and texting. Navigational and other interactive devices also distract drivers.

As legislation and technology develop to solve the problems a software package from Phone Beagle is available to help deal with monitoring phone use. PhoneBeagle is installed on Android and BlackBerry cell phones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other phone log activity.

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