Government Workers Banned From Texting While Driving

If you’re a government employee looking to text from within a government-owned vehicle, you’re out of luck. President Barack Obama has banned texting while driving for all federal employees driving government-owned vehicles.

“This order sends a very clear signal to the American public that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “It shows that the federal government is leading by example.”

The announcement came in part as a result of a two-day distracted driving summit held by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and it is hoped to encourage government contractors to adopt a similar priority.

“Keeping Americans safe is without question the federal government’s highest priority and that includes safety on the road, as well as on mass transit and rail,” said LaHood.
Distracted driving accounted for roughly 16 percent of road fatalities in 2008, up from 12 percent the previous year. Texting may also have been involved in a deadly rail crash outside of Los Angeles late last year.

Other policies proposed at the summit including the ban of using electronic devices in railroad operations. Texting and the restriction of mobile phone use is to be implemented among interstate bus and truck operations, and other proposals could strip school bus drivers of their commercial drivers’ licenses if found guilty of texting.

Obama’s executive order also applies to federal employees in their personal vehicles, should they be on a business trip. Effective immediately, the order applies to nearly 4.5 million individuals.

Source: New York Times