Number of States Banning Texting While Driving Doubles in '09
North Carolina last week became the 14th state to pass a law banning all drivers from text messaging while driving
North Carolina last week became the 14th state to pass a law banning all drivers from text messaging while driving.
In the first six months of 2009, seven states have passed broad texting while driving bans, bringing the total to 14, plus the District of Columbia, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. As of December 2008, only seven states plus D.C. had enacted similar legislation.
The association expects this number to continue to grow -- the 2009 state legislative season has already seen more than 200 proposed distracted driving regulations. According to GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha, "There's a tremendous amount of interest in state legislatures and the highway safety community in the distracted driving issue. Regardless of the law, texting and driving should not mix. We need to restore some common sense to driving."
Current state cell phone and text messaging bans as well as a variety of distracted driving background is posted at http://ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html.
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