Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently made a recommendation to ban all cell phone use for drivers of commercial vehicles. The National Safety Council is proudly backing this new recommendation as it sees it as an effective way to help reduce the risks of distraction-related trucking accidents in Georgia and elsewhere. This recommendation would ban the use of both hand-held and hands-free devices, except for when these devices are used for emergencies.

This proposal comes after the recent investigation of an accident in Kentucky that we previously told you about on our Georgia Trucking Accident Lawyers Blog that killed 11 people. Officials report that the driver of the truck had used his phone about 70 times in a 24-hour period before the accident, both for phone calls and text messages. He was reportedly talking on his cell phone just seconds before the fatal accident occurred.

It all happened when the driver of the tractor-trailer drove head-on into a passenger van after crossing an unpaved median on Interstate 65 in Munfordville. Eleven people including the truck driver died. The truck also took out shops that were located near that roadway.

"It (distracted driving) can be especially lethal when the distracted driver is at the wheel of a vehicle that weighs 40 tons and travels at highway speeds," says Deborah Hersman, a NTSB chairman.

To help make this recommendation into a federal law, we told you that the NTSB handed it over to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). That's because in the hands of FMCSA, this proposal has a better chance of becoming reality. The NTSB does not have the authority to create laws, while the FMCSA has a history of helping laws to get into the books to help keep drivers safe.

Currently, truckers are banned only from text messaging while behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle.

The National Safety Council is applauding the efforts of the National Transportation Safety Board, recognizing that more than 20 percent of accidents every year involve a driver using a cell phone. Many of these accidents are preventable with a little bit more driver attention and common sense.

“The council called for a national ban on all cell phone use among drivers in 2009, recognizing that research shows no safety benefit from hands-free devices," said Janet Froetscher, NSC president and CEO.

There is no phone call and no text message that is worth risking someone's life. While there may be no federal law regulating the use of cell phones or text messaging devices, drivers are urged to do the right thing and to curb the needless distraction while operating a motor vehicle. We will continue to look after the proposal's progress and keep you updated.