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If Texting Ban Comes, Truckers Want an Exception

Posted by JOE WINDISH, Technology Editor in Science & Technology, Society.
Sep 27th, 2009 | Comments

Really???

The trucking industry says these devices can be used safely, posing less of a distraction than BlackBerrys, iPhones and similar gadgets, and therefore should be exempted from legislation that would ban texting while driving.

“We think that’s overkill,” Clayton Boyce, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, said of a federal bill that would force states to ban texting while driving if they want to keep receiving federal highway money.

The public wants a ban:

Ninety percent of adults say sending a text message while driving should be illegal, and only 8 percent disagree.

There is no difference in support based on region of the country, party identification, marital status or whether the respondent owns a cellphone, the poll found.

More than 80 percent of every demographic group say sending text messages while driving should be illegal, but some are more adamant about such a prohibition than others.

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Leonidas

I'd love a ban on texting and cellphone use by all drivers. If its that important, pull over, stop, and don't endanger other drivers.

shannonlee

I second that...texting while driving is deadly.

Shard

I don't believe that all cell phone usage should be banned while driving. Used properly (speaker phone or headset), cell phones have about as much distraction as chatting to a passenger. I will grant that some drivers are more prone to accidents during both than others.

I rarely text while driving (a quick, "on my way," while at a red light or such), but would welcome a ban on the practice. Then again, I would also welcome a ban on teenagers driving anything that goes over 35 mph, but that's me :).

garyknowz1

For the record, not all cell phone use while driving is banned. If you want to drive and talk on the phone, get a bluetooth device. But texting and driving? That's plain ludicrous.

However, in a truck!?!? Ummm…Mr. Boyce…sir. You do understand that your clients are operating vehicles which can weigh up to 80,000 pound and have very poor maneuverability and braking distance, correct? And you want to give them the option of paying less attention to the road? With all due respect, you’re nuts.

RememebrNovember

They can have it so long as they can calculate the critical mass of a fully laden semi going 65, as it hits an SUV filled with their own family members.

/idiots.

only way around that is if they have speech-to-text an afaik most pd's don't have that.

tidbits

A friend recently got t-boned by someone exiting a parking lot while texting. No injuries or fatalities, thank God. If you want to drive a vehicle on a public roadway, you owe a duty of responsibility to others. Ban it for all drivers.

Almoderate

Just look at the picture in that article! I don't know what bothers me more-- the full-size keyboard or the chihuahua in his lap! Or maybe it's that, in demonstrating the device, there's a certain direction he's obviously not looking in.

shannonlee

At 65, having a conversation with a passenger while driving isn't a problem. At 130, it is. My point is that any distraction while driving is dangerous considering the conditions.

Leonidas

Everyone thinks they can use cellphones and texting safely, its the other guy who is always not doing so. I'm sorry but no one is so busy that they can't pull over if the call is THAT important.

Rambie

Leo, then we need to ban radios, CDs, really music players, and talking to passengers as well. Not to mention eating, smoking, shaving, putting on makeup, doing your hair, and a plethora of other things I see on my daily commute.

Talking via a headset or speaker phone seems to be much less distracting than most of those I mentioned above. How big of a nanny state do you want this country to turn into?

tidbits

Rambie - The original post was limited to texting. That seems different to me than speaker phone/headset conversation. Texting actually requires taking eyes off the road for an extended period first to read then to text back. Public safety has a place in driving.

This isn't a personal liberty, nanny state, issue in my view. Drving is a privilege, not a right and is therefore subject to regulation like licensing of vehicles, licensing of drivers, rules of the road, wearing seatbelts, liability insurance etc. The goal of the regulations associated with the state licensed privilege of driving is public safety.

Rambie

I was relying to Leonidas, who, if you read his comments is saying a blanket ban or law on all cell phone use in a car while driving.

I have no issues with a law against texting while driving, it's just common sense that it's a bad idea. But if there is going ot be laws against using a cell phone with headset or speakerphone then may as well add eating, shaving, applying makeup, etc.

tidbits

Rambie -

My apologies for misconstruing your prior comment. Thank you for setting it (me) straight.

tidbits

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