As car crash accidents rise, more states ban distracted driving via texting, talking by cell phone
Jim S. Adler & Associates has campaigned for years against the cell phone accident dangers of talking or texting while driving. Now many state governments are seeing the light. Nineteen states already ban texting while driving, while 23 more are assessing such legislation. In fact, 34 states are considering proposed bills either to ban or widen bans on the causes of distracted driving.
Why? Because distracted driving kills. It’s that simple. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that 515,000 persons were injured and 5,870 persons died in traffic accidents in 2008 due to distracted drivers. That’s 16 per cent of all U.S. traffic deaths — enough to help spark creation of FocusDriven, a national non-profit group dedicated to fighting distracted driving.
The Wisconsin state assembly has overwhelmingly passed a ban on all drivers texting, and the governor is expected to sign it. Texas has no such law on the books, and no legislative session is scheduled this year. So Texas will be behind the curve even further if, as expected, up to a dozen more states pass laws banning texting while driving in 2010.
Municipalities also can pass such laws, and New York City’s, which are among the toughest, could get even tougher.
New York police ticketed 224,044 drivers in 2009 for talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving. (A hands-free device is permitted.) That was a 13 per cent increase over 2008.
The fine is $130, but no “points” are tallied toward a driver losing his or her license. In New York, if a driver accumulates 11 points in 18 months, their license can be revoked. Speeding tickets can range from 3 to 8 points, depending on the speed. But repeated cell phone violations don’t mean any points, and legislators hope to change that. There’s also a chance that fines will be increased for each repeated violation.
By contrast, driving while texting — which also carries a $130 fine — costs drivers 2 points. That’s a newer law, having taken effect last November.
Such fines and loss of a driver’s license may seem like tough penalties, but if that’s what it takes to wake up motorists to the very real threats of distracted driving, so be it. And if you or a loved one has been injured by a distracted driver, alert a cell phone accident lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates. We’ll fight for your right to economic recovery for your losses.
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[...] the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that distracted drivers are killing 6,000 Americans and injuring another half a million each year. Subtract that 6,000 from [...]