Thursday, July 30, 2009
Senators call for states to ban TWD
Four senators on July 29 announced plans to unveil legislation that would restrict federal funding to any state that does not ban texting while driving.
According to reports from The New York Times and the Associated Press, Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Kay Hagan (D-NC) plan to introduce legislation that would require states to ban TWD or lose a percentage of their annual federal highway funding.
In addition, Schumer on July 26 announced plans to introduce legislation that would ban TWD for bus and truck drivers and conductors who operate transportation vehicles.
On July 27, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg released findings from a study on cell phone use and TWD. The findings suggest manual manipulation of phones leads to a substantial increase of being involved in a crash.
In addition, The New York Times on July 20 reported it worked with the Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen to reveal that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration withheld data on the risks of distracted driving in fear of angering members of Congress and shelved a letter to then-Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. Data obtained showed NHTSA researchers estimated cell phone use by drivers caused about 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents in 2002.