In the United States, a new rule has been passed that prohibits texting on cell phones for people who drive commercial trucks and buses. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced this law on Tuesday, saying that the government wants drivers of large vehicles to be safe, and will continue to work on making people drive less distracted. Truck and bus drivers who go against this law now will be fined $2750 US.
This law doesn't follow normal rule making processes as it is effective immediately, and many people are unhappy about this. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is one of the largest professional truck driver groups. The vice-president of this group, Todd Spencer, is one of the people who don't agree with this process.
However, nineteen states have passed this law, and even President Obama signed a law that prohibits texting while driving government vehicles. Also, there is a new advocacy group that supports victims or families of victims of distracted driving. It is called FocusDriven.
The reason for all this effort to stop distracted driving is clear. There have been car accidents in 2009 that killed up to 62 people, and almost 6000 people have died due to distracted driving.
It is appropriate that this law is placed as the evidence is clear. There have been many deaths due to distracted driving and stopping the use of texting for just truck and bus drivers alone will save lives. However, the fact that the law is placed immediately is unfair to the people as they will be charged unfairly without being aware of the law. Instead of bypassing the normal rule making process and taking money from people who have never heard of the law, it is much more sensible to have campaigns advertising the law and then making it effective when everyone has heard of it. With the way the rule is made effective now, it may save lives but will bring many complaints from citizens.
Check this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/26/trucks.texting.ban/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment