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Oct. 29, 2009

The CTIA (Cellular Telephone Industries Association) and many wireless carriers are fully supporting Sen. Jay Rockefeller's proposed legislation of the new Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009, which would make it illegal to read or send a text message while driving a motor vehicle anywhere in the United States.

CTIA President Steve Largent said his organization is pleased that the proposed new legislation includes a significant educational component.

The CTIA has partnered with the National Safety Council to co-brand a public service announcement and website focused on educating consumers with the tag line: On the road, off the phone.

Verizon Wireless issued a statement saying it fully supports not only the Rockefeller legislation but also Sen. Schumer and Senators Frank Lautenberg, Kay Bailey Hutchison and Robert Menendez for championing the issue.

In September, the Automobile Club of Southern California said street surveys show California's ban on in-vehicle text messaging appears to have influenced driver behavior in a positive way so far this year.

Preliminary results indicate that in-vehicle text messaging has declined significantly in the seven months after the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.

The decline clearly indicates that a state-wide texting ban can potentially change driving behavior of motorists, reduce dangerous driving while distracted and greatly improve safety, according to the Auto Club.

Additionally, the NTSB put a recommendation on its list of most important safety measures. Industry and safety groups had no objections with that.

California's Auto Club says its study is the first to examine the effects of the state's texting new law and the only study conducted on a texting ban anywhere in the U.S.

The study was conducted using systematic random samples of a total of 16,500 vehicles passing seven roadside sites in Orange County. Three Auto Club surveys conducted before the texting ban went into effect showed that about 1.4 percent of drivers were texting while driving.

So far, California is the 6th state to ban texting while driving. Some parties are still calling for a nationwide ban instead of state-by-state laws. A survey on behalf of Ford Motor Company released in August showed 86 percent of licensed U.S. drivers described handheld texting while driving as "very dangerous," with 93 percent supporting a nationwide ban on texting.

This week, wireless carriers launched a national ad campaign to bring the message home that texting while driving is senseless and outright dangerous.

Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, yesterday introduced legislation that would create a new grant program for educating the public about the dangers of texting and driving.

States that enact driver safety initiatives, such as a ban on text messaging and e-mailing while driving, would be eligible for grants.

Last July, Sen. Charles Schumer introduced new legislation that would require states to ban texting while driving or risk losing federal highway funds.

For its part, T-Mobile USA says it fully supports Rockefeller's newly proposed legislation as well. The wireless carrier is strongly encouraging its employees across the country to lead by example.

T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson and members of T-Mobile's senior leadership team were among the first employees to take the pledge to not text and drive, according to T-Mobile Vice President of Federal Legislative Affairs Tony Russo in a statement.

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Source: The CTIA.