Kim Michael Cullen Automobile Accidents Law Blog on Lawyers.com

DOT to Truckers: No txting while u r driving

Monday, February 8, 2010 by Kim Michael Cullen

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood deserves credit for
taking the first step toward banning texting while driving. Secretary LaHood announced a couple of weeks
ago that the federal Department of Transportation has issued a rule that
expressly and strictly prohibits heavy truck and bus drivers from texting while
driving. Any truck or bus driver caught
texting while driving will be fined no less than $2,750.00. A new federal study shows that texting while
driving requires drivers to take their eyes off of the road for an average of
4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds of driving.
Travelling at 55 miles per hour, this means that a driver would travel
about the length of a football field without looking up at the road. This is obviously careless and unsafe
behavior as it is very easy for a heavy truck or bus to cause a serious motor vehicle
accident with catastrophic brain and spine injuries. Studies show that drivers who are texting are
20 times more likely to be in an car accident than drivers who are not
distracted. Secretary LaHood’s actions
come on the heels of an Executive Order signed by the President banning federal
employees from texting while driving. It
will be interesting to see if the Florida Legislature will finally step up and
make texting while driving illegal. For more information about texting while driving, visit my website.