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By Al Wannestadt
Legislature to combat using a cell phone while driving is a daily battle for local, state, and federal governments. Numerous studies and heart wrenching stories on loss of life due to distracted drivers have propelled government officials to take action on limiting cell phone use while driving. First, there was legislature put in place in certain cities & states that forced hands-free use of a cell phone only. Other steps of limiting cell phone use for public transportation workers, younger-aged drivers, and drivers in construction and school zones have been taken. As texting has became so popular, fighting texting while driving has became the latest battle. Legislature is changing weekly, if not daily as bills are continually submitted by local, state, and federal representatives.
Distracted driving is a constant problem on roads today throughout the nation. The term distracted driving encompasses more than just cell phone use, it involves eating/drinking, talking to passengers, looking at maps, playing with the radio etc. Distracted driving is anything that takes hands off the wheel, eyes off the road, or the mind from thinking of what drivers are doing while driving.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, in 2009, close to 5,550 people were killed in distracted driver accidents and half a million people were injured in accidents due to a distracted driver. Furthermore, 18% of all fatal car accidents were the result of a distracted driver.
Cell phone use is a major component of distracted driving. Cell phones distracting drivers has become such a problem that nine states and the District of Columbia to date, have taken the ultimate step to completely outlaw any use of cell phones while driving. Not even hands-free talking devices can be used in these areas.
Experts and studies on both sides differ as to whether hands-free devices are the true solution to keep drivers concentrated while talking on cell phones. The hands-free debate is why more states haven’t banned hand-held cell phone use or total use of cell phones while driving because of the inconclusive results. However, states will be weighing passing laws on the use of hand-held devices while driving more now since the federal safety funding is being cut to states that do not have at least bans on hand-held devices. New Orleans Representative Austin Badon has filed a bill this week to outlaw hand-held devices while driving in Louisiana. Badon explained that millions of dollars have been lost to Louisiana because of the lack of legislation and is why they are diligently working to pass a bill.
Texting, checking email and/or surfing the web is an area that most have come to an agreement on in the past couple years as being a very serious distraction for drivers. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety found that drivers who use handheld devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Another study found that when drivers text, they are impaired at the same level as if they had twice the legal limit of alcohol inside of them. These statistics and many more have pushed 30 states and the District of Columbia to step up to the plate on the texting issue by passing legislation and outlawing texting while driving for all drivers. Other states such as Arizona and Nevada have passed preliminary bills this month to be added to that list to outlaw texting while driving.
Still, the enforcement of these laws has been tough for officials and drivers continue to break these laws and ignore the dangers. States have begun setting up texting sting operations all across the state and have begun raising fines for offenders to get driver’s attention. Connecticut, who passed a texting while driving ban in 2005, still struggle with drivers texting that they have passed a significant raise in fines on offenders. Originally, first time offenders were fined $100, $150 for the second time and $200 for the third and subsequent offenses. The new law makes first time violation fines still $100 but all second and subsequent offenses will be $500 fines. A major fine that Connecticut officials expect to get the attention the law deserves and make drivers follow the law and drive safer.
Legislation limiting the use of cell phones will be a continuous fight that legislators on all levels of government will constantly be working on for years to come. Even with legislation passed, the governments still struggle to close loopholes on current laws and find ways to enforce the rules efficiently. Most importantly, regardless of what laws are in place, the ultimate goal is to have drivers put their cell phones away and concentrate on driving.
About the Author: Al Wannestadt works as a freelance writer and marketer for companies like CarLocate, a web car listing service with
new and used cars
for sale. They are located at
CarLocate.com
. When he is off the clock, Al writes about and stays up-to-date on the latest marketing innovations, and follows the latest news about the automotive industry and cars.
Source:
isnare.com
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