by Mark Silva
TWD.
There oughta be a law, says Ray LaHood, secretary of transportation, sponsoring a two-day conference in Washington starting today on: Texting While Driving.
It should be illegal, nationwide, the DOT chief, a Republican former congressman from Peoria, says.
""This is a very, very serious problem in America, not dissimilar to the problems that America faced with drunken driving that was ignored'' until the federal government prevailed on the states to enact tougher DUI law, LaHood tells Bloomberg News.
About 16 percent of all fatal crashes last year involving a driver whose attention was interrupted in some way, up from 11 percent in 2005, according to data to be presented today.
The Obama administration's effort on TWD has some support among lawmakers who have introduced measures to bar texting or e-mailing while driving in all states.
At the same time, while prompting motorists to keep their hands on the wheel, some, such as Ford Motor Co., are attempting to ensure that voice-activated communications are not banned in the process.
Last year, 5,870 people died and about 515,000 people were hurt in crashes involving at least one form of driver distraction, according to Transportation Department data being released today.
While some states have enacted bans on handheld cell-phone use by drivers, none have a complete ban on all mobile phone use while driving, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Seven states and Washington, D.C. forbid use of hand-held phones while driving. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia prohibit all drivers from texting while driving.
AAA, the largest U.S. motoring group, announced last week that it is pushing for all states to ban texting while driving by 2013. AAA cited Auto Club of Southern California research that found California's January ban may have reduced texting while driving.
Before the ban, researchers observed 1.4 percent of drivers texting, compared with 0.4 percent after the ban.
LaHood cites the institution of blood-alcohol content standards for drunken driving in all 50 states and laws requiring seat belt use as examples of national safety measures that already have been taken.
Wire services contributed to this report.
Comments
Don't count on it !! The police force numbers are so low, they can't even prevent high school students from being gunned down in our streets, or beaten to death !!
They can't even prevent hospitals from dumping indigent patients, to the poorer parts of town, but they are going after kids, who will learn one way or another, that you really can't drive and text at the same time.
Let's get real, the Healthcare Insures kill many more people with their bureaucratic roulette, than any texters will. It is a crime that it took a major presidential effort for healthcare reform, in order for the citizens of this nation to find out, exactly what these Healthcare industries have been doing to us. It is a crime, it is scandal that the media chose to ignore, gloss over, thus contributing to this overall tragedy. Make no mistake, it is a national tragedy and a national embarrassment, with no end in sight !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 30, 2009 10:15 AM
Watch out!
The 'gubbmit' wants to ban texting?
A new right wing interest group, 'Texter Twits' (backed by the trucking industry associations) will be loudly protesting for their right to kill you while texting and driving.
It's a fundamental right.
Posted by: BlueBirdWhisperer | September 30, 2009 10:20 AM
80% percent of all rear end collisions (the most frequent vehicle accident) are caused by driver inattention, following too closely, external distraction (talking on cell phones, shaving, applying makeup, fiddling with the radio or CD player, kids, texting, etc.) and poor judgement.
I doubt if we'll be able to stop the madness so I went out and got one of these sparebumper.com
Posted by: Krystal Kid | September 30, 2009 12:36 PM
It takes a 2-day conference involving scores of people at taxpayer expense, riding in separate planes and staying in expensive hotels, to conclude what everyone knows: texting while driving is not good? And they wonder why this country is bankrupt.
Posted by: Coolidge | September 30, 2009 12:54 PM
Nothing so evokes America as a ditzy blonde soccer mom texting behind the wheel of an SUV as she runs you down in the crosswalk.
Posted by: ornery | September 30, 2009 11:30 PM
ornery,
And don't forget, it's your God given right to be run down by that 'Texter'!
Posted by: C.Morris✧ | October 1, 2009 5:28 PM
I recently came across a blog post in consumer reports about a new free mobile phone application to help combat distracted driving called DriveSafe.ly that reads your texts and emails to you while you are driving.
It looked pretty interesting so I tried it. I have a BlackBerry and it has really helped me when I’m on the road because it keeps me from texting while driving. It works through my Bluetooth and it can actually send an auto-response to the sender. I’ve had some fun with customizing the auto-response messages. I’m not that technical but it’s easy to use. I recommend people checking out www.DriveSafe.ly
Posted by: Mike Charles | October 8, 2009 12:41 PM
I see teens text and drive all the time. I use this application ( http://www.drivesafe.ly/ ) and now i can focus on road while it reads me my sms and emails.
Posted by: Robert Summers | December 30, 2009 3:38 PM
well i think we shouldn't text while driving. i am a new driver and i am using this article for a paper
Posted by: megan robbons | February 16, 2010 11:32 PM