Latest Distracted Driving Headlines
All the headlines from our Distracted Driving Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tennessee Sees Few Citations Under Year-Old Texting While Driving Law
Jul 12 2010 // Police across Tennessee are writing few citations under the year-old texting-while-driving law. The statute went into effect in July 2009, allowing officers to write tickets to drivers they catch sending cell phone text...
Michigan Police Face Challenge of Enforcing Text-Driving Ban
Jun 28 2010 // When Michigan’s ban on texting while driving takes effect Thursday, July 1, police will be able to pull over motorists solely for using their cell phones to send or look at text messages or e-mails. Some in law...
Iowa Texting While Driving Ban Takes Effect July 1
Jun 28 2010 // Iowa motorists will face new restrictions aimed at cutting down on distractions beginning July 1. A new law that bans adults from reading, writing and sending text messages goes into effect Thursday. The law also bans...
Massachusetts City Seeks Texting While Driving Ban
Jun 9 2010 // Springfield, Massachusetts has taken a step toward banning texting while driving. The city council on Monday passed a home rule petition by a 12-1 margin that would allow police to fine anyone who sends or receives text...
Georgia Bans Texting While Driving; Targets Teens
Jun 7 2010 // Put down the cell phone and step away from the car. Georgia drivers soon will be banned from texting, checking e-mail or using the Internet behind the wheel and teens will be prohibited from using their cell phones at all...
Texting While Driving Ban Now Law in Vermont
Jun 2 2010 // It’s now illegal to text while driving in Vermont. Gov. Jim Douglas signed the ban into law Tuesday at the Montpelier High School, joining at least 25 states that have banned the practice. The measure also bans the...
Cell Phones Raise Teen Nighttime Driving Risks in Texas, Nationally
May 7 2010 // Nighttime driving is becoming more hazardous for American teenagers and the likely cause is talking and texting on cell phones while operating a vehicle, according to a study released May 6. The report by the Texas...
Vermont Lawmakers to Ban Driving While Texting
May 6 2010 // Vermont lawmakers want to put an S-T-O-P to drivers who text. Under a deal reached Tuesday between lawmakers, texting by drivers of any age will be banned, starting this summer. And the bill that says so goes a step...
Bills Banning Handheld Phones While Driving Pass Louisiana Committee
Apr 29 2010 // Two bills that would ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving have breezed out of the Louisiana House of Representatives Transportation Committee. Both would allow drivers to talk using hands-free devices. One...
Spat Over Negligence Presumption Kills Alabama Texting Driver Ban
Apr 28 2010 // Drivers can keep sending text messages while traveling Alabama’s highways because a fight between an insurance company and lawyers in the state Senate killed a bill to ban the dangerous practice. Democratic Sen....
Oklahoma Gov. Signs Legislation on Distracted Driving
Apr 14 2010 // Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has signed into law a piece of legislation that will allow law enforcement to cite drivers who drive dangerously while using their cell phone, but prohibit them from initiating a traffic stop...
Maryland Lawmakers Ban Hand-Held Phones While Driving
Apr 12 2010 // Maryland drivers will have to use handsfree devices to talk on cell phones while driving under legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly on Friday. The House of Delegates voted 125-14 to pass a measure already...
Kentucky Gov. Beshear to Sign Bill Banning Texting While Driving
Apr 6 2010 // Motorists in Kentucky would face fines if caught texting while driving under legislation that lawmakers are heralding as a lifesaving measure. The legislation cleared its final hurdle last week when the House passed it by...
Kentucky Senate Advances Bill to Ban Texting While Driving
Apr 2 2010 // The Kentucky Senate has used some late maneuvering in pushing a bill aimed at banning people from sending text messages while driving in the state. Senators found a House bill to attach the provisions that would prohibit...
U.S. Seeks Permanent Ban on Texting by Bus, Truck Drivers
Mar 31 2010 // U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has proposed a federal rule that would to specifically prohibit texting by interstate commercial truck and bus drivers. The proposed rule would make permanent an interim ban...
Kentucky Senate Advances Texting While Driving Ban
Mar 26 2010 // A bill seeking to ban people from sending text messages while driving in Kentucky has won approval from the state Senate. The measure would prohibit drivers from writing, sending or reading text messages when their vehicle...
South Carolina House Passes $25 Fine for Texting While Driving
Mar 12 2010 // South Carolina motorists who are caught sending or reading text messages while they drive would be fined $25 under legislation that won key House approval this week. With a 98-18 vote, the House gave second reading to a...
New Jersey Assembly Panel Advances Distracted Driver Bill
Mar 8 2010 // Police in New Jersey may soon have to note whether a driver was distracted before having an accident. A bill approved by an Assembly committee last week requires officers to check a box describing the type of...
Minnesota Lawmakers Hold Distracted Driving Hearing
Mar 4 2010 // Minnesota lawmakers are taking another look at the dangers of distracted driving. House and Senate transportation committees held a joint hearing Wednesday on the risks of things like cell phone dialing, fiddling with GPS...
Poll: Hand-Held Cell-Phone Use Continues to Rise in Washington
Mar 3 2010 // As Washington state legislators consider strengthening cell-phone and texting-related laws, a recent poll by PEMCO Insurance reveals that the number of Washingtonians who admit to illegally using a cell phone without a...
