Texting is one of the most popular means of communications. Even in 2008 “Computer Weekly” stated annual increases of 30% in text messages with 212,616,000 SMS text messages sent every day according to Mobile Data Association. It seems no segment of the population is untouched by the ability to communicate instantly via telephone email. The troubles start when people start to multi-task, and truck drivers tend to catch the worst of the attention when it comes to texting while driving.
A new law may produce an increase in trucks for sale
although it is not just truck drivers coming under the gun. Truck drivers and anyone who drives government vehicles including buses and trains are banned from using cell phones for text messages while driving. The legislation carries a penalty of $2,750.00 for a first offense; stiff fines for doing what seems to come naturally to millions of people in the global community. Many in authority would prefer texting be banned for everybody, and that may be yet to come. For now, accidents like the one in September 2009 where the engineer of a commuter train failed to stop because he was texting back and forth with someone and the resulting collision killed 25 people in California fuel the fire for the ban. Federal investigators say the resulting impact with a freight train injured 101 people on top of those dead.
Anything that takes concentration off the road and driving ability is dangerous no matter who is doing it. However, when a truck is involved in an accident the sheer volume, weight, and even possibly dangerous materials involved escalate the damage to a great degree. A study in early 2010 indicates that truck drivers are as much as 5.9 times more likely to have an accident related to texting than the driver of an automobile is. Coincidentally, truckers have much lower rates of accidents using cell phones for listening or talking. The main trouble with texting is the amount of time needed looking down at the screen, or keypad, to type.
Truckers spend a lot of time looking for
great truck deals for their own fleets, and companies that hire drivers spend a lot of money to keep trucks on the road. It only makes sense to use as many precautions as necessary to get the job done safely, and with the trucks in good condition, so it may be time to embrace the texting ban. No one has to worry about going back to the “old west” and the pony express for communication: just wait to pull in to the truck stop before hitting send.