Latest Distracted Driving Headlines
All the headlines from our Distracted Driving Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arizona DPS to Crack Down On Texting Drivers
Nov 12 2013 // The Arizona Department of Public Safety plans to crack down on drivers who are distracted by texting or their cellphones in general. The enforcement effort will begin in January and be accompanied by an education campaign,...
Older Drivers Catching Up with Younger in Distracted Driving: Survey
Nov 12 2013 // Cell phone use and texting while driving are on the rise along with accessing the internet while driving — and it’s not just young people engaging in these dangerous activities behind the wheel. State Farm today...
Connecticut Police Use New Law to Target Distracted Driving
Oct 11 2013 // Connecticut Police are cracking down on motorists who text or use a hand-held cellphone while driving. Authorities call it “high-visibility enforcement” intended to call attention to a state law that took...
Illinois State Police Catch Shaving, Texting Drivers
Oct 4 2013 // Illinois State Police say a man who was shaving was one of dozens of people stopped by officers patrolling a Chicago expressway for distracted drivers. While state troopers only issued the shaver a warning, spokeswoman...
Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Now in Effect
Oct 2 2013 // Florida is joining 40 other states in the U.S. where it is illegal to text and drive. The ban is one of more than two dozen laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature scheduled that kicked in on Tuesday, Oct....
Commentary: Threat of Civil Liabilities for Text Senders in Crash Cases
Sep 6 2013 // A New Jersey state appeals court has ruled that a text sender could be held liable for a crash caused by her text’s recipient — but only if the person sending the text believes the driver will immediately...
N.J. Survey: Over 60% of Young Drivers Say They’ve Texted While Driving
Sep 4 2013 // New Jersey auto insurance group Plymouth Rock Assurance released the results of a distracted driving study that found 61 percent of young drivers surveyed in New Jersey acknowledged having sent text messages while...
New Road Signs in New Jersey to Warn Drivers Not to Text
Aug 30 2013 // A recently enacted law in New Jersey will mandate new road signs on state roadways that will inform motorists that texting while driving is prohibited in New Jersey. Under the legislation (A3873/S2406), the commissioner of...
Powerful Documentary Aims to Show Texting Drivers ‘It Can Wait’
Aug 20 2013 // There are many stories of people who took their eyes off the road for a second to read or type a message and ended up in an accident that changed their lives and the lives of others forever. People who are living with the...
R.I. Dept. of Transportation Getting Grant to Combat Distracted Driving
Aug 16 2013 // Rhode Island is one of seven states receiving a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help reduce distracted driving. The state Department of Transportation will use the $459,000 grant to develop...
New York Increases Fines for Distracted Driving Violations
Jul 29 2013 // New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on July 26 that new and increased fines for distracted driving violations, which includes texting-while-driving or using an electronic handheld device while driving, are now in...
Idaho Marks 1-Year Ban on Texting While Driving
Jul 22 2013 // Idaho State Police say they have issued more than 66 citations statewide for texting while driving since the texting ban took effect a year ago. The Post Register reported that 16 of those citations since July 1, 2012,...
New York Announces Summer Texting-While-Driving Crackdown on Long Island
Jul 18 2013 // New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week detailed a summer crackdown by the New York State Police on distracted driving on Long Island. Authorities said that in New York State, one in five crashes is a result of distracted...
Idaho Marks 1-Year Ban On Texting While Driving
Jul 9 2013 // Idaho State Police say they have issued 66 citations statewide for texting while driving since the texting ban took effect a year ago. The Post Register reported that 16 of those citations since July 1, 2012, occurred in...
South Dakota Law Bars Young Drivers from Using Cell Phones
Jul 2 2013 // A new South Dakota law prohibits beginning drivers from using cell phones while they are behind the wheel. South Dakota allows 14-year-olds to get instruction permits, the nation’s youngest age for driving while...
N.J. Toughens Penalties for Texting, Talking on Hand-Held Device While Driving
Jun 28 2013 // New Jersey is stiffening the penalties for motorists who use handheld cellphones to talk or text. A bill signed into law Thursday increases the fine to a minimum of $200 and a maximum of $400 for a first offense. A second...
Survey: Texting While Driving Common Among N.J. Drivers
Jun 17 2013 // New Jersey auto insurance group Plymouth Rock Assurance released a distracted driving study that found nearly 50 percent of those polled said they have in the past asked a driver to stop texting while the car was in...
Alaska Police Officer’s Distracted Driving Trial Begins
Jun 14 2013 // An Iraq veteran is suing the municipality of Anchorage for damages suffered when a police officer ran a red light and crashed into his pickup. The Anchorage Daily News reported the trial in Melvin Rush’s lawsuit...
Hands-Free Voice Messaging Behind Wheel More Dangerous Than Phoning: Study
Jun 12 2013 // Using voice-to-text messaging, included in systems such as Ford Motor Co.’s Sync and Toyota Motor Corp.’s Entune, is more distracting to drivers than making calls with handheld mobile phones, a study by AAA...
Connecticut’s Anti-Distracted Driving Bill Sent to Governor
Jun 7 2013 // A bill that aims to further combat distracted driving in Connecticut now awaits Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s signature. Connecticut’s state Senate on Wednesday, by a vote of 26-9, passed a wide-ranging...
