| Jun 02 |
Perry vetoes Texas bill to ban texting while driving
It’s been said by scientists that distracted driving is as bad as drunk driving, and statistics would seem to bear this out. As driving distractions continue to mushroom, so do traffic deaths and injuries due to distracted drivers, who could kill up to 6,000 persons on America’s roads and highways this year. The rate of distracted driving deaths, in fact, has doubled in recent years. |
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed a new bill the Texas Legislature passed to add Texas to the ranks of 32 other states making it illegal to read or send text messages while driving. Perry says government shouldn’t “micromanage” adults’ behavior, and instead education should be emphasized to steer people from the dangerous habit.
| Mar 23 |
Houston school kids fight distracted driving — and are noted by U.S. Transportation SecretaryLongfellow Elementary School students Kaitlynn Sanders, Nautica Winkfield (seated) and Helena Marlowe. How important is it to stop the deaths and devastation caused by distracted driving? Not enough to compel many state governments — including Texas’ — to do the right thing. And not enough for cell phone companies to set their greed aside and quit fighting safety measures. But distracted driving dangers have been important enough to spur action by a group of Houston school kids, who seem more wise than many adults. They’re students at Longfellow Elementary School, and what they’ve done is so noteworthy that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has written about it in his personal blog, which has a photo of the students. In today’s Fast Lane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, LaHood commends the Houston kids for taking “public education into their own hands.” “Budget problems prevented the City of Houston from posting signs near Longfellow alerting drivers to the dangers of texting and cell phone use while driving in a school zone,” LaHood wrote. “So safety-minded students, parents and area residents joined together to create and post their own signs.” LaHood’s blog also links to “Neighbors Taking Charge,” an item by the Bellaire Examiner noting efforts by the Longfellow PTA and neighboring Woodside Civic Club to make a bad situation better. |
| Feb 28 |
Drivers say they don’t feel safe today
That’s the word from a recent national traffic safety study. It was commissioned by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. In one respect, the results aren’t surprising. There is a basis for the fear. Accidents are still one of the leading causes of death in the United States for “children, teens and young adults up to the age of 34.” So why are drivers doing the very things that scare them when others do them? |
Americans say they just don’t feel safe on the road these days. And it’s distracted driving that frightens them. But, many do it anyway.| Jan 11 |
FEDs most wanted list
It’s a list of the “Most Wanted Transportation Safety Improvements,” not the 10 most wanted list you were probably thinking of. It’s aimed at stopping one of the biggest killer of kids today – distracted driving – the texting and talking on cell phones that is driving up the death rate on American roads for teenagers. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) created its “most wanted” list in 1993 when it began urging states to reduce the death rate among young drivers and their passengers. by putting restrictions on novice drivers. The agency calls the changes that resulted “the most significant alteration of young driver practices in 50 years.” But work remains. |
Admit it! You always suspected that the federal government had a “most wanted” list. And yes, it does exist. But it may surprise you.| Jan 05 |
Distracted driving set to increase with the auto pc
It boils down to this: Automakers want to build touch screen TV monitors with Internet access into new cars to recoup their losses during the economic downturn. Big insurance companies know that will boost the number of distracted driving accidents, increasing insurance company costs that will have to be passed on to all drivers. |
A battle is brewing between auto makers and big insurance companies with some hard-hitting consequences for drivers. At stake are more wrecks and increased costs for auto insurance even for safe drivers.| Aug 26 |
Sue Sylvester — Jane Lynch — of ‘Glee’ to coach parents on teaching kids about distracted driving
Lynch will appear in webisodes for the campaign on driving while distracted, and she also will be a member of its council. The effort is sponsored by LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, a division of South Korea’s LG Electronics. |
Emmy-nominated actress Jane Lynch, who plays fiery cheerleader coach Sue Sylvester on hit Fox TV show | Aug 04 |
Teens know distracted driving car accidents kill, but text, call anyway
This finding came via a study conducted by Seventeen magazine and AAA auto club and reported by USA Today. It reported other common forms of distracted driving among teens as eating, adjusting a music device, applying makeup and driving with four or more other teens in the vehicle. |
America’s teens seem to have a disconnect between what they’ve been told and what they do. They’ve been told and given fair warning that distracted driving is deadly, killing 6,000 Americans yearly and injuring hundreds of thousands. Yet 86 per cent of teen drivers indulge in distracted driving anyway, often in the form of texting or making cell phone calls while at the wheel.| Jul 01 |
Texas drivers dip below national driving test average
Texas has 17 million drivers on its roads. Sadly, several million of them who once passed a driving test wouldn’t be able to pass one today. At least, that’s the finding of a recent GMAC Insurance study, which showed that almost 20 per cent of drivers nationwide — or about 38 million — would fail a driving test. In Texas that translates to about 3.4 million drivers who’d fail a driving test. The survey also showed that Texas ranks 35th among the 50 states in driving test abilities. GMAC said Texans got 76 per cent of its driving test questions correctly, a bit below the national average of 76.2 per cent. |
| May 21 |
Texting teen crashes with fire truck in distracted driving accident
Bob Dylan’s humanistic sentiments when he wrote 1962′s Blowin’ in the Wind could be reworded to fit Americans’ driving-while-texting tragedies today. How many such distracted driving deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died, and embrace our responsibility behind the wheel? And how many deaths will it take till Texas bans texting while driving — as 23 states already have? |
“How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?” — Bob Dylan| Mar 12 |
Car accident deaths down, despite rise in distracted driving fatalities
But imagine how much better it could be without the onslaught of cell phone addiction. Millions of Americans drive with one hand on the wheel — at best — while calling and texting with the other. And when only a moment’s inattention can cause a lifetime of misery, these driving distractions are among the biggest threats on our roads today. |
Driving deaths overall are down in America, but could be much lower without one thing: distracted drivers who call or text at the wheel. A new report by the U.S. Department of Transportation reveals the United States had 33,963 traffic fatalities in 2009, a drop of 8.9 per cent from 2008. With driving deaths declining for 15 consecutive quarters, this also was the lowest level since 1954.