Commercial Cell Phone Ban Improves Safety, Does Not Impact Productivity

Lexington trucking accident attorney Frank Jenkins III previously stated he supports the proposal by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to ban cell phone calls and text messaging by commercial truck and bus drivers. Since the September 2011 ruling, the NTSB has expanded the cellphone ban recommendation to include all drivers as an effort to reduce highway accidents and fatalities.

According to a study by the National Safety Council (NSC), commercial drivers and their companies do not need to worry about lost business or productivity by prohibiting cell phone use in the cab.The 2009 study found that “99 percent of companies with policies prohibiting the use of cell phones and messaging devices while driving have experienced no change in productivity.”

In addition, the ban has been shown to increase safety. Over 20 percent of the companies that initiated a cell phone ban saw a decrease in employee crash rates and property damage, according to the NSC.

Calls for a complete ban on cell phone usage by drivers picked up momentum following a tragic truck accident. In the commercial ban recommendation, a truck driver using his mobile phone was the probable cause of a tractor-trailer crash that killed 11 people on a Kentucky interstate in 2010.

In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the 2010 traffic fatality data and for the first time included data on “distraction-affected crashes.” Distractions that are most likely to affect crash involvement, such as distraction by dialing a cellular phone or texting, and distraction by an outside person/event, were evaluated as probable causes of accidents. The data showed an estimated 3,092 fatalities in distraction-affected crashes nationwide in 2010.

In 2009 in Kentucky, more than 100 motorists died and over 900 suffered injuries in commercial vehicle accidents.

The DailyHerald.com reports that Wheels Inc., a fleet management company that provides and services vehicles for corporations, recently banned phoning, texting or e-mailing while driving during the work day. Even so, their drivers saw no decline in productivity. On the contrary, the NSC reports businesses with total cell phone bans experienced either an increase in productivity or saw no difference at all.

“Your productivity will increase if you’re more focused on driving than on passing time while talking on your cellphone,” said David Teater, head of transportation strategic initiatives at NSC. David Teater joined the NSC after losing his 12-year-old son in an auto accident caused by a cell phone-using driver.

Statistics pointing to the hazards of cellphone use and driving have prompted many trucking companies to ban cellphone use, and many others are realizing that they are liable for damages if one of their truckers causes an accident due to cellphone use.Truck accident victims or their families injured by a distracted truck driver may be able to collect damages for medical bills, rehabilitation, lost wages, loss of future earnings and pain and suffering.

Our Kentucky truck accident law firm has seen the tragic results of distracted truckers – victims and their families are devastated by serious injuries and fatalities.We support all initiatives aimed at having drivers focus on driving – and not on the latest text message. We encourage all employers to make safety a top priority by instituting a ban on employee cellphone use while driving.