Portland Personal Injury Law Blog

The fight over the dangers of using smart phones while behind the wheel has reached a fever pitch, as it starts to garner nationwide press coverage. While there may be some civil libertarians voicing their concerns about how far reaching potential legislation may be, it’s the anti-distracted driving side that is making the most noise, especially now that the National Transportation Safety Board has put its full weight behind the movement.

While the NTSB has no legislative power, it does hold the power of persuasion, making it difficult for legislators to ignore. On the heels of recent senseless and tragic deadly distracted driving car crashes, federal safety investigators are urging action now.

“States aren’t ready to support a total ban yet, but this may start the discussion,” said Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association.

However, according to the Associated Press, a group that represents state highway safety offices referred to as a the recommendation “game-changer.”

One of the more striking examples of distracted driving happened last year, when a 19-year-old truck driver was found to have texted 11 times in 11 minutes before causing a deadly highway pileup near Gray Summit, Missouri. Two people died and 38 were injured.

Recent high-profile cases show that these problems extend to commercial drivers as well. For instance, an investigation is underway regarding a train crash that happened when the engineer was texting. The accident killed 25 people in Chatsworth, California.

Here is a brief breakdown of the current state laws regarding distracted driving:

• There are 35 states, plus the District of Columbia, that ban texting while driving.
• Nine states and Washington D.C. bar hand-held cellphone use.
• Thirty states ban all cellphone use for “beginning drivers.”
• No states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers.