Latest Distracted Driving Headlines
All the headlines from our Distracted Driving Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Dakota Panel Endorses Cellphone Ban for Young Drivers
Feb 28 2013 // A measure that prohibits beginning drivers from using cellphones or other electronic devices until they get unrestricted licenses at age 16 passed through a South Dakota House committee. But the Transportation Committee...
Texas Auto Insurers Back Texting While Driving Restrictions
Feb 27 2013 // Texas’ major auto insurers support proposed legislation to prohibit texting while driving as the next logical step to prevent accidents and deaths on Texas’ increasingly crowded roadways. Beaman Floyd,...
Missouri Texting While Driving Law Nabs Few Violators
Feb 26 2013 // A 2009 Missouri law that bans young drivers from using their cell phones to send text messages has led to few citations and remains difficult to enforce, a Columbia newspaper reports. The Columbia Missourian reports that...
Houston Officer: Texting Drivers Are Blind Drivers
Feb 25 2013 // Houston Police Officer Paul Lassalle said it used to be easy spotting drunk drivers. “Prior to the use of cell phones, they were the ones creeping along on the freeway creating a traffic hazard or veering out of...
South Dakota Senate Passes Ban on Texting While Driving
Feb 21 2013 // A measure that would ban texting while driving was approved by the state Senate after supporters said South Dakota needs to join the 39 other states that prohibit the dangerous practice. Senators voted 24-9 to approve the...
Arizona Teen Drivers Face Cellphone Ban Under Senate Bill
Feb 15 2013 // Arizona lawmakers are coming after teen drivers’ cellphones. A bill approved by the Senate Committee on Public Safety on Wednesday seeks to prohibit teenagers from using wireless devices while they have their...
Houston Officer: Texting Drivers Are Blind Drivers
Feb 13 2013 // Houston Police Officer Paul Lassalle said it used to be easy spotting drunk drivers. “Prior to the use of cell phones, they were the ones creeping along on the freeway creating a traffic hazard or veering out of...
Utah Driver Accused Of Texting, Driving In Fatal
Jan 28 2013 // A 28-year-old Utah man has been ordered to stand trial for automobile homicide after police say he was texting while driving when he struck and killed a teenage pedestrian. Jeffrey Lloyd Bascom of Jensen faces a felony...
Legislation Would Ban Texting While Driving in Oklahoma
Jan 24 2013 // Legislation filed by state Rep. Curtis McDaniel would increase safety on Oklahoma roads by banning texting while driving, the lawmaker says. House Bill 1503, by McDaniel, would outlaw texting while their vehicle is in...
Michigan Governor Signs Cellphone Ban for Novice Drivers
Jan 14 2013 // Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed legislation prohibiting novice drivers from using a cellphone while behind the wheel. The bill applies to holders of Level 1 licenses, who must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or...
Thousands of Drivers Caught In Northern California Cell Phone Crackdown
Dec 26 2012 // Nearly 3,000 drivers were caught breaking cell phone rules during a crackdown in Sacramento County in Northern California. California was one of two states to receive grants for high-visibility law enforcement pilot...
Mostly Verbal Warnings, not Tickets, to Texting Texas Drivers
Dec 3 2012 // A year since it began enforcing a ban on texting while driving, a North Texas city says awareness has increased despite the small number of tickets written. Arlington police have issued 49 citations to drivers who were...
Texting Driver Gets Prison in Ohio Fatal Crash
Nov 30 2012 // An Ohio driver distracted by a text message when he caused a fatal crash has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison. A judge in southern Ohio’s Jackson County sentenced 31-year-old Christopher Haines on Nov....
Arlington, Texas Issues Few Tickets to Texting Drivers
Nov 25 2012 // A year since it began enforcing a ban on texting while driving, a North Texas city says awareness has increased despite the small number of tickets written. Arlington police have issued 49 citations to drivers who were...
Craddick Bill Would Ban Texting While Driving in Texas
Nov 14 2012 // Texas Rep. Tom Craddick (Midland) has filed House Bill 63, the Alex Brown Memorial Act, which would implement a statewide ban on texting while driving. According to Craddick, House Bill 63 introduces a common sense safety...
Survey: One-fourth of Nevada Drivers Use Hand-Held Phones
Nov 5 2012 // A statewide survey shows 27 percent of Nevadans still use hand-held telephones while driving, despite a state law banning the practice that took effect Jan. 1. University of Nevada, Reno, researchers say the third annual...
1,300 Drivers Convicted of Texting Under Georgia’s 2-Year Old Law
Oct 31 2012 // State records in Georgia show that about 50 drivers a month have been convicted of texting and driving in the two years since a law to ban texting went into effect. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that as of...
Kansas Woman in Campaign Against Texting While Driving
Oct 29 2012 // Amanda Umscheid of Paxico said she’ll never get over knowing that her 19-year-old sister died while sending her a text as she drove near Manhattan, Kan., in the spring of 2009. The last thing Ashley Umscheid did...
How to Catch Texting Drivers? Conn., Mass. Get $550K Grant to Find Ways
Oct 24 2012 // The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of the U.S. Transportation Department, said this month it is providing $550,000 to Connecticut and Massachusetts to help them devise anti-texting enforcement...
Survey: 4th of Nevada Drivers Use Hand-Held Phones
Oct 24 2012 // A statewide survey shows 27 percent of Nevadans still use hand-held telephones while driving, despite a state law banning the practice that took effect Jan. 1. University of Nevada, Reno, researchers say the third annual...
