Commercial Motor Vehicle Texting Ban Now in Place

November 20, 2010 (Press-News.org) With the rise in the use of wireless communication, there have been numerous accidents and studies detailing the dangers of texting while driving. According to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, 30 states have laws that ban texting for all drivers. Over one-third of those laws took effect in 2010.

While the bans in those 30 states affect all drivers, including operators of commercial motor vehicles, the lack of laws and regulations in the 20 other states lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association to act. As of October 27, 2010, a federal rule will prohibit drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMV) from texting while behind the wheel.

The rule was enacted by the FMCSA after studies it commissioned showed that CMV drivers who engaged in texting behaviors were 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident than drivers who did not.

Goals and Exceptions to the Rule

According to the FMCSA, distracted driving is defined as "any voluntary or involuntary diversion of the primary driving task due to an object, event or person that shifts attention away from the fundamental driving task." The goal of the texting rule is to reduce injuries and deaths involving semi-trucks and other CMVs by reducing the incidence of distracted driving on the highways.

While the ban covers all CMV drivers in all states and territories, industry advocates, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), pushed for certain distinctions in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's rule.

According to Land Line Magazine, the OOIDA asked the FMCSA to not consider the use of GPS, smart phones or laptops from the rule. The FMCSA did, in fact, specifically exclude GPS devices as well as devices "capable of performing multiple functions (e.g. fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, citizens band radios, music players, etc.)" from the definition of texting.

The ban has the support of many in the industry, including OOIDA and the American Trucking Association. There is also widespread support among the general public. According to a study by AAA cited in the final rule, over 94 percent of drivers considered it "unacceptable" to send text messages or emails while behind the wheel.

Truck drivers violating the rule face fines up to $2,750 and fines for the carriers can be as high as $11,000.

Article provided by Knapp & Roberts
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