Latest Distracted Driving Headlines
All the headlines from our Distracted Driving Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Alabama Lawmakers Favor Ban on Driver Texting: Poll
Jan 8 2010 // State Rep. Ken Guin says Alabama needs to ban people from text messaging while driving a motor vehicle, and a recent experience with a driver swerving “all over the road” is a reason why. “I started to...
States Get Tough on Distracted Drivers in 2010
Dec 29 2009 // Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire and Oregon will bring in the new year with new state laws aimed at cracking down on distracted driving, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Of the four...
Kentucky Bans State Workers From Texting While Driving
Dec 22 2009 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has banned state employees from sending text messages while driving government-owned vehicles. Beshear issued an executive order that says he took the step in an effort to reduce the number of...
Erie, Pennsylvania Bans Cell Phone Use While Driving
Dec 18 2009 // Northwestern Pennsylvania’s largest city has banned hand-held cell phone use by those driving vehicles or riding bicycles. Erie City Council approved the measure this Wednesday. Mayor Joe Sinnott says he’ll...
Michigan House, Senate Pass Bills Banning Texting While Driving
Dec 10 2009 // The Michigan House has voted to prohibit the use of cell phones to send text messages while driving. The main bill in the package passed the House by a 94-13 vote Tuesday. A similar measure passed a Senate committee...
Councilor Proposes Ban on Texting While Driving in Boston
Dec 9 2009 // A Boston city councilor is hoping his proposal to ban drivers from sending text messages will spur a statewide ban on a practice most consider dangerous. John Tobin says he expects his fellow councilors to sign off on the...
Distracted Driving: Cell Phone Bans May Not Be Effective
Dec 6 2009 // While cell phone use increases the risk for vehicle accidents, research has not yet verified that banning such devices improves driving performance, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The...
Missouri Lawmakers Propose to Ban All Texting-While-Driving
Dec 4 2009 // After Missouri’s youngest drivers were told to quit sending cell phone text messages, lawmakers are going after everybody else. Several lawmakers have filed bills for the 2010 legislative session that starts Jan. 6...
Gov. Crist Urges Florida Lawmakers to Ban Texting While Driving
Nov 19 2009 // Gov. Charlie Crist has urged Florida lawmakers to ban texting while driving. Crist this week asked Julie Jones, executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, to include such a measure in her...
Rhode Island, New York Latest States to See Texting-While-Driving Bans
Nov 15 2009 // New Yorkers: Put the BlackBerry away if you’re behind the wheel. New York’s law against texting-while-driving went into effect this month. The new law forbids the use of mobile devices for reading, typing and...
West Virginia Seeks Funds to Boost Effort to Ban Distracted Driving
Nov 4 2009 // West Virginia’s lawmakers have tried and failed to ban texting and talking on cell phones, but that effort may get a new boost from Washington. Sen. Jay Rockefeller wants grant money for states that ban texting while...
New York Ban on Texting-while-Driving Takes Effect
Nov 3 2009 // New Yorkers: Put the BlackBerry away if you’re behind the wheel. New York’s law against texting while driving went into effect Sunday. The new law forbids the use of mobile devices for reading, typing and...
Rhode Island House Approves Texting-while-Driving Ban
Nov 2 2009 // A proposal to ban Rhode Islanders from texting while driving is one step closer to becoming law. The state House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that would bar drivers from sending, writing or reading a...
Pressure Builds for More States to Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving
Nov 1 2009 // The Obama administration reported that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of using mobile devices...
States and Cell Phone Driving Laws
Oct 27 2009 // A jurisdiction-wide ban on driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone is in place in 7 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia. California and...
Ohio County Bans Texting While Driving
Oct 21 2009 // The county that includes Akron has become the latest area in Ohio to ban text messaging while driving. The measure approved by the Summit County Council carries $150 fines for violators caught reading or sending text...
Pressure Builds for More States to Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving
Oct 19 2009 // Opening a Sept. 30 government meeting on auto safety, the Obama administration reported that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a...
Pressure Builds for More States to Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving
Oct 19 2009 // The Obama administration reported that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of using mobile devices...
Do Cell Phone Bans Change Driver Behavior?
Oct 14 2009 // Phoning while driving and texting behind the wheel are in the news. This is the highway safety issue of the moment, the subject of cartoons and, on a more serious side, the focus of legislation. A key question is whether...
Oklahoma Panel to Study Texting And Driving Rules
Oct 9 2009 // A legislative panel in Oklahoma plans to investigate the potentially dangerous practice of texting while driving. Oklahoma currently has no state law against the use of cell phones while driving, according to the Insurance...
