Federal Law Bans Utah Truckers from Texting While Driving
Posted By Ron Kramer on January 28, 2010
The Transportation Department announced on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 that it is imposing an immediate ban on texting for commercial drivers like truckers and bus drivers. Three senators hope that President Obama will go further and propose legislation to ban all texting by motorists. “This is an important safety step, and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Robert Menendez D-N.J., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., urged President Obama’s administration to support their proposed bill that would compel states to ban texting while driving or lose 25 percent of the federally-funded highway money. “We can’t settle for keeping our roads half-safe,” Schumer said. “We need to stop all motorists, not just truck and bus drivers, from texting behind the wheel.”
The federal government has the power to ban texting by commercial drivers because they are federally regulated. However, the threat is equally dangerous for non-commercial motorists but for commercial motorists the consequences are often more severe. Combining a bus or truck that can weigh upwards of 15,000 pounds with a distracted driver is a recipe for disaster. This is a giant step in the right direction and I imagine in the coming years, texting while driving will be banned all throughout the country.
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