In the past year a number of individual states have taken action to curb the practice of texting while driving or other forms of distracted driving. Following reports comparing the danger of distracted driving to that of drunk driving, at least eighteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted measures that control when and how drivers can use hand-held electronic devices while behind the wheel.
In the past year a number of individual states have taken action to curb the practice of texting while driving or other forms of distracted driving. Following reports comparing the danger of distracted driving to that of drunk driving, at least eighteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted measures that control when and how drivers can use hand-held electronic devices while behind the wheel.
At the federal level, Congress is considering a number of bills that are intended to reduce the incidence of distracted driving accidents nationally. Late last year saw the introduction of two such measures to the US Senate: the Distracted Driving Prevention Act and the ALERT Drivers Act. The competing bills take opposing approaches to generating support for a broad distracted driving ban at the state level: While the Distracted Driving Prevention Act promises incentives to states that comply, the ALERT Drivers Act imposes penalties for non-compliance.
Introduced by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and Senator Frank Lautenberg, the Distracted Driving Prevention Act would provide grants to states that enact laws banning drivers from engaging in a number of dangerous practices. These include texting, using a cell phone without a hands-free device, and using any electronic device if the driver is under the age of 18.
To qualify for the grants, states would have to ban texting while driving, and would have to impose significant penalties for drivers who cause accidents due to distraction. The grants would be paid for with surplus funds from the existing seatbelt safety program.
The ALERT Drivers Act - otherwise known as the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act - takes the opposite approach. The Act would require the government to deny a quarter of federal highway aid to any state that has not passed a law banning texting while driving. The bill is similar to the 1984 law that required all states to raise the legal drinking age to 21 or risk losing a percentage of their highway funds.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has called for action to reduce the number of accidents caused by those who text or read emails while driving. Some have questioned whether a broad distracted driving ban will be undercut by the inability of law enforcement officials to determine whether a driver is texting. According, to LaHood, however, distracted drivers often operate their vehicles erratically and weave in and out of their lanes, just like drunk drivers.
