Survey * USA - Half of Companies Do Not Enforce Employee Cell Phone Policies

32% of companies report on-the-job crashes due to cell phone related distractions

Reston,VA,USA –Zoom Safer -May 18, 2011: -- ZoomSafer today released a survey showing that 32% of companies have knowledge or evidence of on-the-job crashes that have occurred as a result of distractions stemming from employee use of cell phones while driving. The first annual survey polled 500 business managers in North America and was designed to gauge corporate attitudes and best practices pertaining to distracted driving... Overall findings indicate rapidly growing concern among corporate managers about distracted driving risks and liability. Results show that 62% of companies have adopted written policies prohibiting employees from using a mobile phone while driving for company business. The survey also reveals that while many companies have adopted written cell phone driving policies, only half (53%) make any attempt to enforce compliance. Among companies that do enforce compliance, the survey found that 61% rely on post-incident disciplinary measures, and only 2% currently utilize technology to proactively measure and manage employee compliance with cell phone use policies...  (Photo from farm4.static.flickr)

CELL PHONES BAN * Canada & USA - All Canadian provinces now ban hand-held phones while driving

Each of Canada’s 10 provinces has enacted bans on the use of hand-held electronic devices while driving

Fredericton,New Brunswick,Canada -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -18 March 2011: -- New Brunswick will be the last province to begin enforcing a ban on the use of hand-held electronic devices while driving once enforcement begins April 1...  The ban applies to the handling or manipulation of hand-held cell phones, texting devices and portable entertainment devices while driving. It also prohibits the manual programming of GPS units while driving...  TVs, monitors, DVD players and computer screens will not be permitted in New Brunswick “within the visual range of the operator or driver of a motor vehicle,” according to information released by the New Brunswick Department of Public Safety. Violators will be subject to fines of $172.50 plus three penalty points on a driver’s license...

* USA - Technology solving cell-phone truck use dilemma

Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Wendy Leavitt -Mar 18, 2011: -- Last December, Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood, proposed banning interstate bus and truck drivers from using handheld cell phones while operating a vehicle. Meanwhile, the number of productivity apps that can be loaded onto cell phones just keeps mushrooming—leaving fleets to seriously wonder how viable an IT platform cell phones will be for trucking business solutions down the road...  However, it may not be time to hang up on cell phones in trucks. Thanks to some enterprising new solution providers, it may be possible to take advantage of the benefits of mobile communication devices without risking a fleet’s safety rating in the process...  The availability of various technologies to restrict and track in-vehicle use of mobile devices is likely to continue to expand right along with the growth in the functionality and use of mobile devices themselves...  Think about how the number of active and passive onboard safety systems has grown in an effort to make the business of hauling freight by truck safer and more efficient. Cell phone usage control and tracking systems are the data corollary—tools to make the task of sharing information safer for those moving goods and people down the highway...

DEBATES * USA - Hand-Held Phone Use

* ATA Supports Proposed Ban on Hand-Held Phone Use by Drivers

Arlington,VA,USA -TruckingInfo -24 Feb 2011:  --  The American Trucking Associations announced its support of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's proposed prohibition on the use of hand-held mobile phones, though it urged the agency to allow the use of hands free devices, citing agency research demonstrating the net safety benefits of such devices...  ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said: "Recognizing the risks of hand held mobile phone use, it simply makes sense to prohibit their use by all motorists to make the highways safer for everyone" ...   ATA also objected to the proposed prohibition on reaching for a mobile phone while driving. Doing so, ATA argued, would prevent drivers from initiating hands-free calls which, as the agency's research demonstrates, can have a net safety benefit. Further, ATA claimed, it is inconsistent to permit drivers to reach for other objects (e.g., a C.B., a radio dial) but prohibit reaching for a cell phone...

* OOIDA: Comments support hands-free use of cell phones

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -25 Feb 2911: -- Drivers and carriers submitting comments to the public docket want the FMCSA to leave responsible hands-free use of cellular phones alone. Many also believe that responsible hand-held use of phones while driving should be left alone because the entire trucking industry relies so much on wireless communication.

* Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association:

“Indeed, cell phone use is no more distracting than other types of communications and electronic equipment used regularly by truck drivers such as in-cab fleet management devices, global positioning and other navigation systems, and Citizens Band (CB) radios that have not received the same level of scrutiny by FMCSA” ...   OOIDA, association president Jim Johnston noted that driver distraction is seldom the cause of truck wrecks. Johnston indicated that that the safety record of professional drivers has improved significantly in recent years, and he cited a study done by the transportation institute at Virginia Tech that found that talking on a hand-held cell phone doesn't create any increased risk of an accident...