Safety Group Urges Truckers from Using Devices While Driving

September 25, 2009

A car safety group is proposing a bill that will ban truckers from using electronic devices such as mobile phones, CB radios, and laptop computers while driving.

In a statement, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said the US Department of Transportation (DOT) should ban drivers of large vans, trailer trucks, and buses from using devices for “talking and text messaging”.

Henry Jasny, general counsel of the safety group, said that text messaging is not the only issue in road safety.

“Many electronic devices, especially mobile phones which are used in Twitter and texting can distract drivers. Even the hands-free phones may not be safe since using these devices will also take their minds off from driving”, Jasny said.

Meanwhile, the safety group asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to initiate a study to determine if the use of CB radio, a device used by truckers for short-distance communication, may increase the risk of collision.

According to the safety group’s statistics, approximately 5,000 Americans are killed and 100,000 more are injured every year due to crashes involving large trucks.

In a recent study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “distracted driving” accounted for nearly 25 percent of all traffic accidents in the US.

This finding is supported by a study conducted in 2006 which found out that people using cell phones are 10 times more likely to run a red light compared to drivers who are not using such devices.