[December 09, 2011] Rep. McCarthy Calls for Passage of National Texting Law in Wake of Report Showing Texting While Driving Up 50 Percent Tweet Dec 09, 2011 (Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- WASHINGTON, DC (December 8, 2011) - In the wake of a new report today showing that texting-while-driving increased by large margins in the last year, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY4) is calling for passage of her bill to ban the dangerous practice on a nationwide level. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today (NHTSA release, AP story) that a survey of 6,000 drivers showed that texting and other handheld phone use while driving increased by 50 percent in 2010. Eighteen percent of all drivers reported using a handheld phone while driving; that number jumps dramatically, to about 50 percent, for drivers age 21 to 24. "The proliferation of smartphones brings more distracted driving, and government needs to respond to keep our roads safe," said Rep. McCarthy, a former nurse who has made public health and safety a hallmark of her tenure in Congress. "With some basic commonsense rules that are already in place in some parts of the country, we can reduce injuries and save lives in America. The House Republican Majority should help make our roads safer by passing the Safe Drivers Act." The new survey also offers additional insights into driver attitudes and practices when it comes to texting and cell phone use while behind the wheel. For example, the NHTSA finds that "While most drivers said they are willing to answer a call and many will send a text while driving, almost all of these same drivers reported that they would feel very unsafe as a passenger if their driver was sending or receiving text messages." The Safe Drivers Act of 2011, H.R. 2333, focuses on two primary efforts. First, it directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish minimum regulations that ban the use of hand-held mobile devices on a public road while operating a moving or idling motor vehicle, except in the case of an emergency. There are exclusions, including voice-operated, vehicle-integrated devices, as well as voice-operated GPS systems. The bill also requires the DOT to conduct a study on distracted driving, focusing particularly on the issue of cognitive distraction and the impact of distraction on young and inexperienced drivers. In two years, the DOT must report the findings of this study to Congress and provide recommendations for revising the minimum distracted driving prohibitions and penalties states must comply with. The penalty for not complying with the DOT's minimum standards within two years of enactment would be a withholding of 25 percent of a state's federal highway transportation funding. The legislation is modeled after the nation's federal Blood Alcohol Content standard, the violation of which also results in a withholding of federal transportation funds (though no state has been in violation of the federal BAC standard). States that are penalized can actually receive their funds as soon as they are in compliance with federal law. The bill has been endorsed by Verizon Wireless, the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Corporation. With a patchwork of laws in different states, including some states with no laws whatsoever limiting cell phone use while driving, distracted driving is rapidly becoming a deadly problem across the nation. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, using a cell phone makes a driver four times more likely to be in an accident that causes injury. According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, 9 states, Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. No state bans all cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) for all drivers, but many prohibit all cell phone use by certain drivers. For example, 30 states and D.C. ban all cell phone use by "novice" (younger) drivers. Thirty-five states, D.C. and Guam ban text messaging for all drivers, and an additional 7 states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, immediately after New York banned cell phone use while driving in 2001, cell phone use declined an estimated 47 percent. Since then over time, handheld cell phone use by New York Drivers is down an estimated 24 percent. Read this original document at: http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/recent-news/rep-mccarthy-calls-for-passage-of-national-texting-law-in-wake-of-report-showing-texting-while-driving-up-50-percent/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]