Talking on the phone while driving distracts attention from one of the most dangerous tasks a vast majority of us do on a daily basis – drive.
Now imagine a school bus driver taking your kid to school or a semi-truck driver being distracted from their driving because they’re on the phone… a pretty scary sounding scenario when considering the precious cargo they’re carrying or simply the sheer size and weight of a big truck traveling down the road.
As a result of several high-profile accidents, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is convening a two-day summit to be held next week where they plan to announce a renewed effort to enact a federal ban on bus drivers and truckers using their cell phones while driving.
Many states already have laws in place for hand-held devices and texting while driving. Colorado law currently bans everyone from sending text messages while driving…something also being proposed at the federal level.
This idea has been around for a while – in 2004, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended the same federal ban be enacted after a tour bus driver became so engrossed in a conversation, he didn’t see signs warning that an upcoming overpass was too low for him to pass under. As a result, the bus slammed the underside of the bridge, injuring 11 passengers.
Safety experts say research concludes that talking and texting while driving is unsafe which is why many industry groups are either neutral or support this idea.
Lawmakers in Washington authored a bill this summer to force states to enact bans on texting or emailing during driving or lose 25% of their federal highway funding.
This is a pretty serious matter as I’ve seen many accidents resulting from a bus and/or truck driver’s negligence around Denver…wrongful death attorneys like myself know all too well the devastation wrought by a collision with large trucks and the like.
If you’ve been hurt in a collision with an 18-wheeler because its driver was talking on the phone, contact the Colorado personal injury attorneys at the Babcock Law Firm today!