New Texting Guidelines Announced

CNN alerted us today of new federal guidelines announced Tuesday of this week by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that prohibit commercial truck and bus drivers from texting while driving.  These new rules are effective immediately and come with stiff penalties of up to $2,750 fines.  LaHood has been on a campaign to decrease the often deadly effects of distracted driving during his tenure, including a summit in Washington on the topic, the launch of distraction.gov, and the creation of advocacy group FocusDriven.  These regulations are in addition to 19 states banning texting while driving and the 6 states who have banned the use of handheld devices while driving altogether.  We’re in full support of these new regulations and guidelines – as the article notes, when you’re texting you take your eyes off of the road for 4.6 out of 6 seconds.  That’s 77% of the time, meaning you’re only looking at the road 23% of what you should be!  Horrifying, if you think about it.