No Texting, Truckers!
I know a trucker who drives a triple-trailer about 500 miles every day, and do you know how he passes the time?
By texting on his cell phone. When I pointed out the dangers of this, he responded that it is a good way for him to stay awake!
Well, I just discovered via the GJEL accident attorneys blog that it’s now against the law for commercial drivers to text while driving.
That means drivers of vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or more, which includes trucks and buses, cannot text and drive.
The federal ban is being implemented by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Drivers caught driving and texting can be fined up to $2,750, which is a small price to pay for public safety.
Go check out GJEL’s post for some more details, and click here to see the US Transportation Department’s press release.
This was posted
on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 and is filed in the Public Safety, Texting categories.
February 6th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
This law is a good first step. Oregon recently implemented a ban on the use of hand-held cell phones while driving for all vehicles. However, even hands-free devices may not make the driver more safe. The New York Times ran a series of articles on this subject last summer. Apparently, federal studies determined that the conversation itself is the distraction – not the phone. With that said, I would not want the driver of any vehicle, especially a semi-truck, to be texting and not paying attention to the road.