If you did not already know, April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. All month schools and law enforcement agencies will step up their efforts in educating drivers and future drivers about the fatal results of cell phone use behind the wheel. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) adopted the slogan, “One Text or Call Could Wreck it All,” to illustrate how one meaningless text could permanently alter your life with a car wreck.
A study by the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed that talking and texting are the leading causes of distracted driving. It is not difficult to spot numerous drivers looking down at their cell phones while they should be looking at the road. Safety experts hope that the public will someday view cell phone use while driving as a sort of social stigma, like drinking and driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 800,000 drivers are using their cell phones during daylight traffic hours every day. The NHTSA is promoting cell phone apps that send incoming calls to voicemail automatically without ringing the phone.
Currently, 37 states have laws that outlaw cell phone use while driving. Unfortunately, Louisiana is not one of them. On Wednesday, our blog will discuss the state legislature’s efforts to catch up and ban cell phone use while driving.
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