The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently issued an order banning all in-cab texting by commercial truck and bus drivers. Because the DOT has the authority to regulate interstate truck and bus safety, it was able to immediately put this rule into effect due to the number of truck accidents caused by distracted driving. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated "To put this dangerous behavior in perspective, researchers at Virginia Tech found that truck drivers who send text messages on a cell phone are about 23 times more likely to get into some type of crash or near-miss than drivers who keep their eyes on the road." The Virginia Tech study found that drivers take their eyes off the road for almost 5 seconds when texting which is equal to driving the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the road.
Early release data from the National Highway Safety Administration indicates 4,229 people were killed in accidents involving large trucks in 2008. No data related to the cause of the accidents has been released yet. By way of comparison, in 2007 there were 4,808 people killed in truck accidents with 5.8% of those accidents involving distracted driving. So the good news is there is a downward trend in the number of deaths due to truck accidents and with this new ban on texting by large truck drivers, those numbers should continue to decline.
Texting and distracted driving have become such an issue that twenty states have already banned texting and driving by all drivers and 23 more are considering legislation, including Georgia. Georgia's bill has been sent back to a committee to determine how such a law could be enforced. We will continue to follow the bill in Georgia and keep you up to date as it moves through the legislature.
If you are involved in an accident with a truck or big-rig and want to discuss the impact of distracted driving on your situation, give us a call. We are experienced truck accident attorneys with extensive litigation experience.
