Trailnet Works with MODOT and other Organizations to Address Distracted Driving
Trailnet Works with MODOT and other Organizations to Address Distracted Driving
According to AT&T, 7 in 10 drivers engage in the risky behavior of cell phone use while driving. The National Safety Council reports that driver cell phone use leads to 1.6 million crashes in the US each year. Missouri crash data indicates phone use by drivers contributed to 2,237 crashes in in 2015, which produced 11 fatalities, 79 serious injuries, and 940 minor injuries.
A cell phone conversation distracts the human brain enough to increase crash risk by a factor of four.
Trailnet has actively lobbied on this issue in Jefferson City for several years because people who walk and bike are especially vulnerable to being hurt or killed by cell phone-distracted drivers. We’ve urged Missouri state legislators to at least ban texting for all drivers, since Missouri is one of only four states without a texting ban on drivers over 21. Such efforts to date have been unsuccessful.
In the last quarter of 2016 MODOT organized a distracted driving workgroup that included Trailnet, cell phone service providers, state highway patrol officers, AAA, health care providers, insurance industry and trucking representatives. All had previously testified in favor of distracted driving legislation.
The workgroup agreed that addressing texting only was not a complete distracted driving measure. The safest approach – banning the use of cell phones while driving (period) – would be a non-starter in Jefferson City, and with many in the public. The next best approach, it was agreed, would be one that fourteen states have adopted: require drivers to use a “hands-free” device to use their cell phones while driving. MODOT led the drafting and revision process over several months of meetings, and
Representative Nate Walker (R-Kirksville) has now pre-filed the workgroup’s final draft as House Bill 312 for consideration in the 2017 legislative session. You can read it here
Give it a read and tell us what you think! Contact: janet@trailnet.org