FMCSA Issues Texting Ban; Advocates Say It’s a Good First Step
Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 7, Issue 1, April 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued interim regulatory guidance prohibiting commercial drivers from texting while operating a commercial vehicle.
The agency published guidance on the ban in late January under a regulation that generally restricts the use of “additional equipment and accessories that decrease the safety of operation of commercial motor vehicles.” In its Federal Register notice, the FMCSA said that an electronic device for texting would be considered additional equipment or accessories. The agency was also clear that the guidance notice did not prohibit the use of cell phones in commercial vehicles.
In issuing the recommendation, the FMSCA also cited its October study, ‘‘Driver Distraction in Commercial Vehicle Operations,’’ which investigated the prevalence of driver distraction in crashes, near-crashes, lane departures and other safety-critical events. The naturalistic driving study concluded: “The odds of being involved in a safety-critical event is 23.2 times greater for drivers who are texting while driving than for those who do not. Texting drivers took their eyes off the forward roadway for an average of 4.6 seconds during the 6-second interval immediately preceding a safety-critical event. At 55 mph (or 80.7 feet per second), this equates to a driver traveling 371 feet, the approximate length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the roadway. At 65 mph (or 95.3 feet per second), the driver would have traveled approximately 439 feet without looking at the roadway.”
The notice follows a September petition by Advocates for Highway Safety requesting that the FMSCA prohibit or restrict any electronic device that could divert commercial drivers’ attention. Advocates had asked the FMCSA to immediately open a rulemaking to review the most current research on distracted driving, determine which electronic devices and technologies distract commercial drivers and then consider prohibiting them. The Advocates petition says anything that takes drivers off their primary task must be considered – cell phones and hands-free remotes, global petitioning systems, texting and entertainment devices – for a ban or a severe restriction. The group had asked that first responders, such as police and emergency medical technicians be exempted and that exceptions be made for operators using electronic devices to summon help during an emergency. Finally, the petition requested that any rule apply to all commercial motor vehicle drivers – including bus drivers covered by the FMCSA – and that violations automatically result in an Out of Service order – meaning the driver is prohibited from operating a commercial truck for a specified period of time.
Henry Jasny, Advocates’ general counsel said that the notice is only a partial response and doesn’t address the multitude of electronic distractions that are part and parcel of the cab in a commercial vehicle.
“At least the train is moving in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough,” he said. “Our petition went far beyond texting alone. Texting is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s the distraction of all the devices for work and infotainment. Drivers’ attention should always be on the road and not looking at maps or responding to messages even if its voice activated.”
The agency said that it would address the use of other electronic devices while driving in a later rulemaking.