Distracted drivers are a major source of traffic accidents. According to the US DOT’s distracted driving web site, “Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. (NHTSA)”

Pedestrians and cyclists make up a significant portion of road fatalities, so this is a major problem in our eyes.

The Michigan Legislature has been working on a texting ban — a good start to addressing this issue. Today the House passed a bill making texting while driving a primary offense, just as the Senate recently did.

It doesn’t sound ideal, but according to mlive:

Matt Bolger, a Michigan State Police legislative liaison, said distracted driving is reckless driving. The texting ban is another tool in the traffic safety toolbox officers will use when observing driver behavior on Michigan roads and highways.

And according to the Free Press, this legislation just needs a companion bill before it can head to the Governor.

A main sponsor off the bill Rep. Lee Gonzales, D-Flint, said the law would take effect July 1.

“We’re not going to put the hammer down on people,” Gonzales said, adding that it will take time for the public and police to be come accustomed to the law and how to enforce it. He said the law will make Michigan roads safer.

Given the carnage, we say go ahead and put the hammer down now. Keep the points and keep it on driver’s records.

From what we can tell, this legislation does not apply to bicyclists that text. The bill was written for motor vehicle operators as opposed to the more generic vehicle operators.

Tags: distracted driving, Michigan, state legislation

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 5:58 am and is filed under Law, Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.