This article was published on January 26, 2010

US Bans Texting While Driving Big Vehicles


US Bans Texting While Driving Big Vehicles

texting-crashThe US has passed a law which bans those driving large vehicles such as commercial trucks and buses from texting while driving.

Texting and driving is something which no one should ever do. Do you think driving drunk is dangerous? Consider driving while not even watching the road or paying any sort of attention. According to the National Safety Council, texting while behind the wheel is the cause of 200,000 of the 1.6 million crashes that occur in the US each year.

The new law comes as a federal measure on something which the states have been far too slow to do. Only 19 states so far have banned texting while driving, which is sort of baffling. After all, there’s no one with a vested interest in causing car crashes who’s lobbying the states to not pass these laws.

The shortcomings of the federal ban are that it does not ban texting while driving in general, just for those driving large vehicles. And while you’re less likely to survive getting hit by a semi than you are getting hit by a smaller car, it still makes more sense just to ban it completely than to pass a law that suggests texting while driving a smartcar is somehow safe.

The fine for texting while driving under this new law is up to $2,750.

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