On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation put a ban on texting while driving for commercial truck drivers and bus drivers – the first time a federal agency has taken action in this matter. The fine will be steep: up to $2,750.
So far 19 states have banned texting while driving all together. Now the federal government is making steps to prevent traffic accidents as well. According to FierceGovernmentIT, Secretary Roy LaHood, of the DOT, said this is “an important safety step to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”
According to LaHood, and the DOT, there are thousands of traffic accidents that are happening everyday to Americans, but before Tuesday there was no legislation to prevent these accidents. In a study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, drivers that text message while driving are 20 times more likely to be involved in an accident.
Along with this restriction for commercial drivers and bus drivers, all federal employees are also banned from texting while driving. One concern the DOT has is how they are going to be able to enforce this new regulation. It may be difficult to enforce, but it is an important safety step alone by putting it in place.
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