No more TWD for interstate truck and bus drivers
Imagine driving the full length of a football field, including the end zones, at 55 miles per hour with your eyes closed. Would you do that? Well, if you text while driving (TWD), that’s what you’re doing. Research by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every six seconds while texting.
On January 26, 2010, the Federal Transportation Department issued a ban on all texting for interstate truck and bus drivers as well as using handheld cellphones. Civil and criminal penalties are attached to the ban, including fines up to $2,700.
Photo by Lord Jim (Flickr)
At the present, nineteen states and the District of Columbia prohibit TWD, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Another ten states impose restrictions on novice drivers. In November, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order prohibiting federal employees from TWD while driving a government owned vehicle. To stay current on this subject, Google “texting while driving state laws” for the latest bans and restrictions.
For more about this see: http://askthejudge.info/feds-take-stand-against-texting-while-driving/3343/
