On December 14, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made a recommendations for states to not only ban texting while driving, but also hands-free calls.
According to PCMag.com, NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman stated that in distraction-related accidents over 3,000 people lost their lives last year.
“It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving,” said Chairman Hersman.
Although the NTSB looking for a nationwide ban on the use of any electronic device while driving, the agency’s report was focused more on a statewide level rather than federal.
The agency plans to use a combination of enforceable state laws, high visibility enforcements, and supporting campaigns to reduce the number of accidents.
One downfall of trying to enforce this ban is that a driver texting or holding a phone to their ear is much more visible and easy to spot then a driver speaking to someone of speaker phone, which from a police officer’s perspective could easily be confused with talking aloud to themselves or singing with the radio.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), no states are to ban cell phones outright , but they may begin requiring a texting ban and hands-free devices.
Nine state have already banned hand held call phones while driving, among those are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington as well as D.C. and the Virgin Islands.
For a complete list of cell phone laws, visit the GHSA website at ghsa.org
- Image Provided By PCMag.com
