Public Safety: Do you text while driving?

Did you know that texting while driving is as hazardous as driving drunk?  Did you know that talking on your cell phone while driving is almost as dangerous?  

It is amazing how many of my adult - highly educated friends and acquaintances drive and talk at the same time.  They tell me they are too busy to try and make phone calls from home or their office.  

As for texting and driving its much much more dangerous -- 

MTH

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National Transportation Safety Board
Office of Public Affairs

No call, no text, no update behind the wheel: NTSB calls for nationwide ban on PEDs while driving

December 13, 2011

Following today's Board meeting on the 2010 multi-vehicle highway accident in Gray Summit, Missouri, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called for the first-ever nationwide ban on driver use of personal electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle.

The safety recommendation specifically calls for the 50 states and the District of Columbia to ban the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (other than those designed to support the driving task) for all drivers. The safety recommendation also urges use of the NHTSA model of high-visibility enforcement to support these bans and implementation of targeted communication campaigns to inform motorists of the new law and heightened enforcement....link to complete report
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Cellphone ban while driving? The tragedies behind the issue - December 13, 2011 |  3:28 pm - Los Angeles Times

Eleven texts in 11 minutes from behind the wheel -- then two were dead and 38 injured. A deadly Missouri incident was cited Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board as the panel urged a total ban on cellphone use while driving.

Such a ban (exceptions would be made for emergencies) would go far beyond what states now have in place. Currently, no state has a ban on all cellphone use by all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Assn., although some prohibit cellphone use by certain drivers...link to complete article