The Fight Against Distracted Driving: GHSA Seeks Total Ban On Cell Phone Use
The Governors Highway Safety Association wants a total ban on cell phone use while driving. The decision to endorse a full ban comes after examining findings published earlier this week by the American Journal of Public Health that is based on data from the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, including:
• Between 2005 and 2008, the number of distracted driving fatalities went up 28%.
• Text messaging caused over 16,000 car crash deaths between 2001 and 2007.
On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its 2009 Distracted Driving Traffic Safety Facts, including:
• 5,474 distracted driving traffic fatalities in 2009—that’s 16% of all US traffic deaths.
• Use of a cell phone was a factor in 995 of the deaths.
• 448,000 distracted driving injuries.
• Cell phone distraction was a factor in 24,000 of the injuries.
At the US Department of Transportation’s 2nd annual Distracted Driving Summit this week, the government also announced new regulations that ban commercial truckers and bus drivers from texting, prohibits hazmat truck drivers from texting or talking on a cell phone, and places cell phone restrictions on train operators. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is calling distracted driving an epidemic.
The distracted driving summit brought together law enforcement officers, government officials, safety advocates, victims, surviving family members, and others. One of those who addressed the attendees was Amos Johnson, whose daughter Ashley Johnson was killed in a North Carolina car accident last May. Police say that the 16-year-old appears to have been pulling up a text message on her cell phone right before her vehicle crashed head on into a Ford truck, injuring its driver. According to the NHTSA, teenagers belong to the group most likely to drive while distracted.
Police: Asheville Teen Driver Distracted By Text Before Deadly Accident, WSPA, May 11, 2010
Summit seeks ways to reduce distracted driving, WCSH, September 21, 2010
Safety Group Mulls Total Ban On Cell Phone Use While Driving, Lanewsmonitor.com, September 26, 2010
Distracted Driving 2009, Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA, September 2010 (PDF)
Related Web Resources:
Governors Highway Safety Association
American Journal of Public Health
Distracted Driving Summit, Distraction.gov
