DOT to Ban Texts, Limit In-Cab Devices

This story appears in the Oct. 5 print edition of Transport Topics.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will move to ban cell-phone texting by truck drivers and to restrict the use of other in-cab communications units, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

LaHood announced the initiatives on Oct. 1 at the conclusion of the Department of Transportation’s two-day summit on ways to combat distracted driving.

LaHood said DOT would write rules to “ban text messaging altogether and restrict the use of cell phones by truck drivers,” as one of a series of steps aimed at reducing driver distractions.

He said the agency also would target onboard communication and fleet management systems. LaHood said truckers “need information, but we need to figure out a way that they can get the information they need without being distracted.”

“The idea that you can have these onboard devices, computers or whatever — it is a distraction — we know it is and we’re going to find a way to eliminate that,” he said.

LaHood told reporters he expected to have the cooperation of the industry as DOT works on its regulation.

“UPS was here for a day and half. FedEx was here for a day and a half. They heard it, they get it, they know this is bad for their drivers,” he said. “So, I think we’re going to have good cooperation from these groups.”

Dan McMackin, a spokesman for UPS Inc., said LaHood‘s announcement “for the most part does not affect us.”

“We have a policy of no distractions while behind the wheel; it’s two hands on the wheel while the vehicle is moving,” he said. “Two-way communications halt at that point, so even if they [UPS drivers] were to get a message via handheld computer from the center that they work from, they don’t answer those while they are driving.”

FedEx Corp. spokesman Jim McCluskey said it was company policy “that employees are not allowed to use any electronic devices while operating FedEx vehicles. Safety is paramount for us.”

However, early reactions from elsewhere in the industry were less supportive of DOT.

“It’s preposterous from a standpoint of . . . [in-cab devices] distracting drivers,” said Braxton Vick, senior vice president of corporate planning and development for Southeastern Freight Lines in Lexington, S.C.

He said most in-cab systems “do not operate while the truck is moving down the road. It’s hard to be a distraction if they can’t operate it,” said Vick, who also is past chairman of American Trucking Associations’ Information Technology & Logistics Council. “At Southeastern, the equipment has to be stopped before they can use the keyboard,” he said.

Dave Osiecki, vice president of safety security and operations for American Trucking Associations, said the group “appreciated the opportunity to participate in the summit and welcomes the opportunity to work with Secretary LaHood and DOT on a comprehensive approach to reducing distractions for all drivers, including professional truck drivers.”

LaHood did not say when the regulation would go into effect, other than to say “soon.”

Tom Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, said earlier in the summit that the “functionality of visually demanding” devices such data terminals and onboard computers used by truck drivers should be limited.

“That’s not to say that you should get these out of the vehicles completely. You can put interlocks on them so that when the vehicle is moving — it’s relatively simple to do this . . .  most of the functionality is locked down to their most basic, simple functions,” he said. “If you need to do something more than that, including destination entry, you need to pull over to do it.”

Earlier this summer, Virginia Tech published a study that found texting by truck drivers increased the risk of a crash by a factor of 23 (click here for previous story).

Dingus was one of several summit attendees who recommended a ban on texting, adding that any law should be a primary law and should carry large fines and penalties.

“It should have some teeth, or it’s not going to work very well,” he said.

Chuck Hurley, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said that states enacting secondary texting bans, or laws that are enforced only in conjunction with other infractions, “are not serious” about banning texting.

During the summit, LaHood said texting while driving was “an epidemic.” He said nearly 6,000 people were killed in accidents involving a distracted driver in 2008 and more than 500,000 were injured.

“Every single time you take your eyes off the road or talk on the phone while you’re driving — even for just a few seconds — you put your life in danger,” LaHood said. “And you put other lives in danger also.”

LaHood also said DOT would work with Congress on finding ways to ban texting by all drivers.

A number of states already ban texting, and there are efforts on the federal level to expand that number (click here for related story).

Maj. David Salmon, director of the New York State Police traffic services division, said during the summit that officers in the state issued 315,000 citations last year, 8% of all tickets, for violating the state’s ban on the use of handheld cell phones and text messaging.

In addition to the truck texting ban, LaHood announced that President Obama had signed an executive order “directing federal employees not to engage in texting while driving government-owned vehicles.”

The order also bars employees from using government-issued phones to text and drive and from texting while driving personal vehicles on official business.

LaHood called the order “a very big deal.”

“It shows that the federal government is leading by example,” he said.

Staff Reporters Dan Leone and Eric Miller contributed to this report.