Bituminous Insurance Companies
Release Date: October 7, 2009
At the conclusion of a two-day Distracted Driving Summit sponsored by the Department of Transportation (DOT), in Washington, D.C., U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a series of concrete actions that the federal government is taking to help put an end to distracted driving.
Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Research by NHTSA shows that the worst offenders are the youngest and least experienced drivers: men and women under 20 years of age.
The two-day summit brought together safety experts, researchers, industry representatives, elected officials, and members of the public who shared their expertise, experiences, and ideas for reducing distracted driving behavior and addressed the safety risk posed by this growing problem. Speakers from around the nation led interactive sessions on a number of key topics including the extent and impact of distracted driving, current research, regulations, and best practices. More than 5,000 individuals from 49 states participated in the summit via a Webcast.
On September 20, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing federal employees not to engage in text messaging while driving government-owned vehicles; when using electronic equipment supplied by the government while driving; or while driving privately-owned vehicles when they are on official government business. The order also encourages federal contractors and others doing business with the government to adopt and enforce their own policies banning texting while driving on the job.
Secretary LaHood pledged to work with Congress to ensure that the issue of distracted driving is appropriately addressed. He also announced a number of immediate actions the DOT is taking to combat distracted driving, including the DOT plan to create separate rulemakings that would consider:
Although raising the issue of distracted driving to the forefront via the summit, the problem has been examined thoroughly for cell phones, and while texting is much more distracting, we have not made much progress on banning the use of cell phones when driving, much less texting. It has been proven that both hands –on and hands-free cell phone use creates the same degree of risk as it's the conversation that takes up the most time and is frequently the most distracting.
Legislation to ban the use of cell phones remains controversial and only a few states have enacted legislation addressing their use.
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The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ISO Services Properties, Inc., its companies and employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with either the information herein contained or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedure.