I Feel Safer Already: U.S. Bans Big-Rig Drivers From Texting
"We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in a statement. "This is an important safety step and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving."
The law is effective immediately and comes on the heels of a host of studies that found sending and receiving text messages while driving significantly increases the potential for a crash. It was unclear Tuesday morning how the ban would be enforced.
In December, a similar ban was enacted for drivers of federal government vehicles.
According to a Reuters report, research by trucking regulators found that drivers take their eyes off the road for much of the time they send and receive text messages, greatly increasing the risk of a crash. In addition, the National Safety Council, a research advocacy group, estimates that 200,000 crashes are caused by drivers who are texting.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, meanwhile, estimates that drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds spent texting and that drivers who text are 20 times more likely to crash than nondistracted drivers.
And another study released by the University Of Utah in December found that texting while driving is six times more dangerous than talking on a cell phone while driving a vehicle.
The federal government's ban on texting by commercial truck and bus drivers follows similar mandates in several states that ban all motorists from texting. Nineteen states, Washington, D.C., and Guam currently have laws banning texting while driving. Meanwhile, lawmakers have continually pushed for a nationwide texting ban for all motorists.
Several states have also prohibited the use of cell phones while driving, requiring motorists to use hands-free devices.