NAFA Fleet Management Association is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to move quickly to ban the use of mobile devices by commercial drivers except in emergencies.


In a letter to Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, and Anne Ferro, administrator of the FMCSA, NAFA expressed strong support for the National Transportation Safety Board's recent recommendation to prohibit the use of both handheld and hands-free cellular telephones by all commercial drivers' license holders while driving in commercial operations, except in emergencies.

"FMCSA's action on NTSB's recommendation will be an important tool against distracted driving and will support the efforts of fleet managers to encourage their companies and agencies to strengthen safety programs with further restrictions on cell phone and text message usage," NAFA said in the letter.

However, FMCSA is not currently contemplating a total cell phone ban, only one that would ban handheld phone use.

Citing research by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, FMCSA says it is not clear if simply talking on a mobile telephone presents a significant risk. The act of reaching for an object increases the risk of a safety-critical event by three times, while dialing increases the risk by six times - primarily because it takes the driver's eyes off the road.

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves, in a statement on the Board's recommendation, cited that research to underscore ATA's belief that hands-free phones do not elevate crash risk and perhaps even reduce it.

The NTSB made the recommendation to the FMCSA and state regulators, citing distraction from the use of a mobile phone by the driver of an 18-wheel semi-truck as the probable cause of a crash that killed 11 people. Investigators determined that the driver used his mobile phone for calls and text messages a total of 69 times while driving in the 24-hour period prior to the accident. The driver made four calls in the minutes leading up to the crash, with his last call coinciding with the time his southbound truck crossed a 60-foot-wide median, struck and overrode a cable barrier system, entered the northbound travel lanes, and struck a 15-passenger van.