The real danger of using cell phones is not the risk of being caught. The accident risk is equal to driving while legally intoxicated, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

To help mitigate this risk, fleets can use applications that automatically lock down mobile devices when they detect motion. The real challenge, however, may be restricting drivers from using personal phones while operating company vehicles.

The transportation industry has a precedence of taking controversial measures to mitigate risk. In most cases, measures that seem controversial at first soon become standard practice. Technology that makes it possible to enforce restrictions on drivers’ personal cell phones, for instance, may at first seem to drivers to be an intrusive measure.

Consider the history of electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs). For years many fleets resisted using EOBRs fearing they would cause a mass exodus of drivers. Today electronic logs are used by the majority of fleets and widely accepted by drivers.

Technology that monitors driver behavior is also widespread. Many fleets use management systems that report risky behaviors such as speeding, sudden lane changes and panic braking, and other events the moment they occur.

Since fleets already use technology to enforce safety and compliance, is using technology to restrict employees’ use of cell phones while driving any different?

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VIENNA, Va. – Companies that strictly enforce bans on cell phone use while driving among employee drivers have lower fleet crash rates that other firms with milder policies, according to a study conducted by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety.

The study — covering 45 companies, 400,000 vehicles and 8 billion miles traveled — found that companies with the lowest crash rates were most likely to have a total ban on talking and texting while behind the wheel and several were also more likely to terminate a driver for violating the policy.

More than a dozen companies that fell in the bottom of the rankings had some policy against hand-held cell phones in place, but did not terminate a driver for violating the policy.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The U.S. Dept. of Transport is pushing states to adopt a federal rule that bans cellphones across the country, but a group of safety officials aren’t so sure.

At an annual meeting in Kansas City, the Governors Highway Safety Association shelved a California proposal to urge state legislatures to consider a complete ban on all electronic devices – including both handheld and hands-free — while driving.

The group doubted whether a blanket ban on talking and texting is enforceable or effective.

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Ontario to Enforce Possibly First Ban on CB Radios

TORONTO — It’s enough to make CW McCall switch to singing the blues.

Ontario’s ban on hand-held cell phones, texting and other communication devices while driving kicks in on October 26, and surprisingly, the government has included truckers’ Citizen Band Radios (CBs) and similar types of two-way radios in the ban.

According to the Ontario Trucking Association, the government plans to phase out CBs and similar UHF/VHF radios over the next three years, assuming that two-way, hands-free technologies are developed within that time. The OTA says that the Ministry could extend that timeframe should no suitable technology be readily available to replace CBs.

Officials insist CBs present a particular challenge since the receiver and communications unit are separate from each other and connected by a cord.

The pending Ontario ban on CB radios appears to be the only one of its kind in North America.

The law, which passed earlier this year, officially takes effect on October 26, where the focus will be on educating drivers. Police will start issuing tickets on February 1, 2010 for non-compliance.

The set fine for talking without hands-free setting or Bluetooth while driving has yet to be determined before that date. However, the fine range permissible for this offense is between $60 and $500. Reportedly, demerit points will not be handed out for violations.

There are some accommodations for the commercial sector, however, including permanent exemptions for satellite, navigation, collision avoidance and other fleet management systems for the viewing of logistical information on a display as long as the vehicle is not in motion and the device is not held in hand.

The same goes for hand-held push-to-talk devices, hand mics and walkie-talkies, which are popular in short-haul and vocational applications especially.

Just as the law applies to standard cell phones, push-to-talk devices can only be used while driving if they are mounted or secured to the vehicle and is easily accessible and activated by one press of a button. It cannot be hanging from the roof of the cab or dashboard.

OTA played a big part in winning some exemptions. Before the finishing touches were made to the law, MTO officials were taken to trucking companies to witness the need of such technology in daily operations.

The OTA supported the intent and the principle of the law. It says the final version “is directionally appropriate.”

“We support the hand-held cell-phone ban and believe that the Ministry has made reasonable accommodation for most of the other hand-held devices used by industry that serve an important business purpose.”

However, Bradley concedes that the three-year phase-out of hand-held CBs is likely to draw the attention of many truck drivers.

“Given the still pervasive use of these devices in the industry, I expect there could be push-back from some truck drivers,” he said. “In many respects the CB is not only an important part of the truckers’ social network, but it is also an important safety device in its own right.”

[source - todaystrucking.com] ]]> http://www.myettnews.com/2009/10/over-out-on-cell-phone-texting-ban-includes-cb-radios/feed/ 0 http://www.myettnews.com/2009/10/interest-group-seeks-national-cell-phone-ban-for-truckers/ http://www.myettnews.com/2009/10/interest-group-seeks-national-cell-phone-ban-for-truckers/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:50:15 +0000 Rhonda Flathman http://www.myettnews.com/?p=1418 The lobby group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to ban commercial truck drivers from using “unsafe” electronic devices, including those that are wireless or hand-held. The organization seeks to reduce the number of driver distractions, and several recent studies have pointed to cell phones as the key cause. However, other studies indicate the the cause of the majority of serious crashes is passenger car error. The group is asking the FMCSA to determine which electronic devices should be deemed unsafe.

Advocacy Group Seeks to Ban Unsafe Electronic Devices

WASHINGTON — A U.S. advocacy group has filed a petition with the DOT, calling on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to implement a rule to restrict the use of “unsafe electronic devices” by commercial truck drivers, regardless of whether they’re needed for the job.

Henry Jasny, the general counsel of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told reporters that focusing on truck drivers was the most direct and fast approach to address the safety issue since the FMCSA directly controls the regulations affecting of commercial driver behavior. When it comes to banning device use by passenger vehicle drivers, the issue is in the hands of the states or Congress, Jasny said.

The petition calls for regulators to evaluate all wireless electronic devices used for telecommunications, telematics, entertainment and driver assistance (regardless of whether they are mobile or installed into the vehicle electronics platform) that can be used by drivers while operating a truck.

“Driver distraction is a serious and growing safety problem,” said “If safety is indeed our nation’s number one transportation priority, now is the time for FMCSA to act to stem the rising tide of distracted driving crashes, deaths and injuries.”

Gillan, Advocates vice president, says her group is against the use of electronic devices — both handheld and hands free — while driving for talking, texting and other purposes.

The petition asks the FMCSA to determine which devices are unsafe.

During the conference call, the group, which is funded by the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, referred to several studies that point to the dangers of cell phone use and distracted driving, including the Virginia Tech study, which found that 58.8 percent of the critical events in large truck fatal crashes resulted from the action of another vehicle, while 20.9 percent resulted from the action of the truck driver.

According to the Associated Press, the American Trucking Associations has a neutral stance on a ban on cell phone use by truck drivers until the language of a rule is revealed. ATA’s safety agenda explains that some forms of electronic communication devices hinder driver performance by taking the driver’s eyes off the road.

Like most other special interest groups, Advocates cites the oft-repeated stat that nearly 5,000 people are killed and 100,000 injured each year in crashes involving large trucks, without acknowledging that the vast majority are the fault of passenger car drivers or are not attributed to truck driver error, specifically.

When that was brought up reporters, Jerry Donaldson, senior research director for Advocates, responded by saying that studies that support that argument weren’t legitimate.

Of course not.

[source - todaystrucking.com] ]]> http://www.myettnews.com/2009/10/interest-group-seeks-national-cell-phone-ban-for-truckers/feed/ 0