Latest Distracted Driving Headlines
All the headlines from our Distracted Driving Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oklahoma Bill Targets Texting While Driving
Jan 2 2015 // Oklahoma Sen. Ron Sharp has filed legislation banning the use of cell phones or other handheld devices to text, email or call while driving in his state. Senate Bill 67 would make it a misdemeanor to use a handheld device...
Austin, San Antonio Prepare to Enact Behind-the-Wheel Phone Bans
Dec 23 2014 // Two of the biggest cities in Texas are reminding drivers of bans on handheld devices behind the wheel that take effect in Austin and San Antonio come January. Police in both cities won’t start issuing fines until...
Distracted Driver Blamed For Louisiana Lake Wreck
Dec 3 2014 // Three people jumped into a Baton Rouge, La. lake after watching a vehicle get rear-ended and careen into the water. WBRZ-TV reported the St. George Fire Department said there was only one person in the vehicle, the driver,...
University of California Helps Businesses Implement Cellphone Bans
Nov 10 2014 // Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are launching a new program to help businesses in the San Diego region tackle distracted driving. The program, funded by the California Office of...
New Rules for New York Drivers Using Hand-Held Phones
Nov 3 2014 // New York state is imposing tougher penalties on motorists who use hand-held mobile phones while driving. As of Nov. 1, young and new drivers caught texting or using a cell phone without a hands-free device face a 120-day...
German Insurer Uses Phone App to Help Improve Young Driver Safety
Oct 30 2014 // Signal Iduna, a German insurance provider, has launched a new car insurance policy through ‘sijox’, its young customer brand. “AppDrive powered by TomTom” uses a smartphone app to provide feedback...
Hands-Free Distraction
Oct 20 2014 // As the city in which I reside – Austin, Texas – gets ready for a new law to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, I have been contemplating an investment in a...
Police Nab 316 Distracted Drivers on Phones in Dover, Delaware
Oct 16 2014 // Police in Dover, Delaware, have doled out more than 300 tickets to distracted drivers for texting and talking on their cell phones. The 316 tickets were part of a 12-day blitz that ended Sunday, Oct. 12, and eclipse the...
Dover, Delaware to Target Drivers Using Handheld Cellphones
Oct 3 2014 // For the first time, Dover, Delaware, police are using a team of officers to target drivers who text and talk on the road. The department says that despite many campaigns to spread awareness that it’s illegal to use...
Truck Driver: Distraction a Factor in Fatal Oklahoma Crash
Sep 30 2014 // The driver of a tractor-trailer that crashed into a bus and killed four college students on Interstate 35 in southern Oklahoma told investigators he was distracted. Russell Staley, 53, of Saginaw, Texas, was traveling...
2017 Cadillacs to Feature Hands-Free Driving, V2V Technology
Sep 8 2014 // General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, will introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can travel on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on a pedal. The 2017 Cadillac...
Use of Hand-Held Cell Phones While Driving Banned in Austin
Sep 2 2014 // The Austin, Texas, City Council has approved a law banning the use of hand-held cellphones and many other portable electronic devices while driving. The Austin American-Statesman reports the city council approved the law...
Focus Is on Teens in Missouri Anti-Distracted Driving Campaign
Aug 21 2014 // Stressing the financial consequences resulting from an auto accident, the Missouri Department of Insurance is focusing on distracted driving and teens in its latest safety campaign. The department’s MO Eyes on the...
Teens Say Parents Ignore Pleas to Stop Texting, Driving Under Influence
Aug 7 2014 // U.S. parents often ignore warnings from their teenage children by driving while texting or under the influence of marijuana, according to a survey released today by Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Forty-two percent of teen...
New Hampshire Law to Ban Handheld Devices While Driving
Aug 4 2014 // Motorists travelling through New Hampshire are seeing electronic highway signs warning them about distracted driving — the first messages in what will become a full-blown public awareness campaign about a law that...
Primary-Enforced Texting Laws Save Drivers’ Lives: University Research
Jul 28 2014 // New research appears to confirm that laws against texting while driving do reduce traffic fatalities if they are primary enforcement laws. Primary texting bans are associated with a three percent reduction in traffic...
Montana and Arizona Lone States Without Texting Laws, but Does it Matter?
Jul 21 2014 // Arizona and Montana stand out as the only states without some form of texting and driving law, but some studies show there’s no evidence that laws intended to curb cellphone use behind the wheel reduce...
Montana and Arizona Lone States Without Texting Laws, but Does it Matter?
Jul 14 2014 // Arizona and Montana stand out as the only states without some form of texting and driving law, but some studies show there’s no evidence that laws intended to curb cellphone use behind the wheel reduce...
Ban on Texting While Driving Among New State Laws in New Mexico
Jul 1 2014 // A new law is ready to take effect that will ban texting while driving in New Mexico. Starting today, the law will prohibit drivers from sending or reading text messages and emails, even while at a stop light. Drivers also...
Indiana Issues Few Tickets in 1st 3 Years of Texting Law
Jun 30 2014 // A three-year-old law barring Indiana drivers from texting while driving has generated more frustration than tickets from police officers, who say the law makes it hard to prove a driver is in violation. The 2011 law was a...
