Safety & Accident

CHARLESTON, WV – West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin on April 3 signed into law a bill that prohibits text messaging and handheld cell phone use while driving.

Tags: cell phone laws, cell phone use, distracted driving, driving while texting, texting bans, West Virginia

SPRINGFIELD, IL - In two similar bills introduced on Jan. 10 in the Illinois General Assembly, the change to the state’s vehicle code would restrict cell phone use while driving to hands-free only.

Tags: cell phone laws, cell phone use, distracted driving, Illinois

LAS VEGAS – The grace period for Nevada’s driver handheld phone ban officially ended Jan. 1. Now instead of getting a mere warning, drivers caught texting or talking on a handheld phone can get a traffic ticket.

Tags: cell phone laws, cell phone use, Nevada, texting bans

HERNDON, VA -- A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule went into effect Jan. 3 that prohibits an estimated 4 million interstate commercial truck and bus drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. To help commercial fleet operators conform to the new regulation, software provider ZoomSafer has released “FMCSA Cell Phone Use Regulations: A Guide to Compliance for Truck and Bus Fleets.”

Tags: cell phone laws, cell phone use, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, texting bans, ZoomSafer

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a recommendation to the 50 states, and D.C., to ban driver use of all portable electronic devices in a vehicle, including hands-free devices.

Tags: bluetooth, cell phone laws, cell phone use, hands-free, NTSB

COLLEGE STATION, TX -- The number of drivers involved in nighttime fatal crashes nationwide has increased over the past decade, even as crash fatalities overall have declined during the same period, according to a new study.

Tags: cell phone use, Center for Transportation Safety, driving safety, drunk driving, Texas A&M, Texas Transportation Institute

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) have found that it takes a driver twice as long to react when he or she is distracted by reading or sending a text message.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, Texas A&M, Texas Transportation Institute, texting

WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended banning the use of mobile phones by commercial drivers except in emergencies following a crash where 11 people were killed.

Tags: cell phone use, collision, distracted driving, National Transportation Safety Board

SACRAMENTO, CA - The bill would have increased the fine for a first hands-free or texting while driving offense to $50 and to $100 for subsequent offenses.

Tags: California, cell phone use, distracted driving, texting bans

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Senate on Aug. 15 approved a bill that would substantially raise fines for handheld cell phone use or texting while driving in the state, the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported.

Tags: California, cell phone use, distracted driving

WASHINGTON - Some of the key findings from a Governor's Highway Safety Association report include statistics on how often drivers are distracted and what the major factors distracting them actually are.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, GHSA, hands-free

SAN DIEGO - The study analyzed more than 8,000 active drivers in the utilities industry between July 2009 and December 2010.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, DriveCam

WASHINGTON - Called the Safe Drivers Act of 2011, this bill would direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish minimum regulations that ban use of mobile handheld devices on a public road.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving

CARSON CITY, NV – Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval signed a bill banning talking, or texting, on a cell phone while driving.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, Nevada, texting

WASHINGTON - Maine Governor Paul LePage recently signed a new law prohibiting texting behind the wheel, which goes into effect in September. Violators will face a minimum fine of $100.

Tags: cell phone use, driver safety, Maine, state laws, texting bans

RESTON, VA – ZoomSafer released a survey showing that 32 percent of companies have knowledge or evidence of on-the-job crashes that occurred as a result of employee distraction from use of cell phones while driving.

Tags: cell phone use, commercial fleets, distracted driving, ZoomSafer

SACRAMENTO, CA - In hopes of further discouraging drivers from using handheld phones to talk or text, California state senators on April 25 approved a bill that would raise the base fine from $20 to $50 for a first offense and from $50 to $100 for subsequent violations.

Tags: California, cell phone use, distracted driving, texting

BISMARCK, ND - North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple has signed into law a bill that bans behind-the-wheel texting by all drivers in the state. The new law imposes primary enforcement, so law enforcement officers can ticket a driver solely on the basis of texting while driving.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, driver safety, North Dakota

ALBANY, NY - Officials at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced that the department will impose two points on the driving records of those who have been found guilty of driving while using a cell phone for offenses committed on or after Feb. 16 of this year.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving

WASHINGTON - AAA said this month it looks to build on a relatively successful campaign of traffic safety law reforms last year. In particular, the organization will continue to push for more state texting bans and primary seatbelt laws.

Tags: AAA, cell phone use, legislation

VIENNA, VA - A new study of company vehicle fleet crash rates reveals the top safety performers are companies that enact a total ban on cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) and that establish strong consequences -- including termination -- for employees who violate such policies.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, DOT, driver safety, Network of Employers for Traffic Safety

RESTON, VA - ZoomSafer, a leading provider of policy management software to prevent distracted driving, has released a new video titled, "How to Reduce Distracted Driving Risk, Liability and Expense."

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, ZoomSafer

ARLINGTON, VA - It may be illegal to text while driving in most U.S. states, but a new study by researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute found no reductions in crashes after laws banning the practice took effect.

Tags: cell phone use, distracted driving, GHSA, Highway Loss Data Institute, IIHS