FMCSA finalizes hand-held cell phone ban for commercial drivers

If you're looking for some of America's safest drivers, it's easy to find them behind the wheel of our nation's large trucks and buses.  Safe driving is their livelihood, and I know that most of them take safety as seriously as we do at DOT.

And that applies to talking on a cell phone behind the wheel. As one commercial driver, Tim Cox, told a Texas news program recently, "If it's in the truck while I'm driving I don't answer it; I don't text.  It's just too dangerous; you're endangering your life and the lives of others."

But, because of the size of their vehicles and the weight of the loads they carry for us, when drivers of large trucks, buses, and hazardous materials lose their focus for even a few seconds, the outcome can be deadly.

So last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a final rule specifically prohibiting interstate truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles.  Through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, drivers hauling hazardous materials within a state are also included in the ban.

Research from FMCSA shows that using a hand-held cell phone while driving requires a commercial driver to take several risky steps beyond what is required for using a hands-free mobile phone. Commercial drivers reaching for an object, such as a cell phone, are three times more likely to be involved in a crash or other safety-critical event.  Dialing a hand-held cell phone makes it six times more likely that commercial drivers will be involved in a crash or other safety-critical event.

The new rule--the next step in an ongoing process--will save lives and prevent injuries by helping commercial drivers stay laser-focused on safety at all times while behind the wheel. 

Comments

[James sutton]

Since you have done this you should really make the roades even safer also ban every body inclidong police while on duty driving, instead of targettting just CDL holders.

[Cloth Diaper]

I agree with the post, the government should ban the cell phone for commercial drivers while driving the vehicle.

[robert salyer]

well tim cox first of all i,ve been trucking for 40 year's i,am not trying to be smart butt but really if you can,t talk on a phone and drive at the same time you really don,t need to be driving you will end up getting someone hurt it's not the phone.

[Roy Byrd]

As a truck driver who does not use cell phones while driving any kind of vehicle, hands free or otherwise, why does this law specifically exempt school bus drivers of all commerial vehicle drivers?! This ban should effect EVERY driver because as the FMCSA's own statistics will show, the majority of the fatal accidents of this nature were caused by drivers of private vehicles, not commercial motor carriers?

[John Classick]

We instituted the mandatory bluetooth "law" at SLS long before it was official. Chauffeurs, of course, must be on the phone almost constantly during the course of a transfer, updating dispatch with statuses. Most of our chauffeurs claimed that was impractical to always use the bluetooth, but from our vantage point, not only did having a driver using a cell phone a potential liability, it was an ethical issue as well. As the owner of a limousine company, AND a person who is suspicious of any governmental regulation, I am whole-hardheartedly in favor of any reasonable laws restricting messaging and hand hold cell phone use while driving.

[Kendall]

What about cops on laptops and all the idiots that drive on the roads that text call and do everything they can with a cell phone while operating a car. We are the professionals out here we drive for a living not for pleasure it's discrimination at it's best ban all cell phone use while driving not just the professional drivers another bs law against trucked along with the other 60,000 ones unbelievable I bet Ray LaHood is on his cell phone all the time while driving around and so are his kids.

[sell my phone]

Banning cell phone for commercial drivers is a right decision.
Its not only safe for them but it is also safe for others too.

[Mark Smith]

As a commercial driver safety comes first but I find some of the regulations that DOT passes are just plain impractical and stupid. I never use my phone unless it's necessary and then only when it's safe to do so. So now I guess CB's are illegal for truckers. The Government has no common sense and is just trying to line it's pockets at $2750 per driver offense and $11,000 per offense by the employer. Just look at the NO Idling Trucks over 5 Ton law to see through their stupidity.

[gary]

your driving on the highway...Look at cell phone, maybe takes three seconds...at 60 miles per hours you just traveled 264 feet without looking at the road...what passed us by...

[Bill]

what about CB radios and nextel radios no one has mentioned these I dispatch with nextels are they banned?

[Tony Sharp]

Using a hand held mobile telephone while operating a CMV , carries a Violation Severity Weight of 10 . What is VSW and how does it effect a drivers CDL point wise or is it dealt with during a Review only.

[ardell c sutton]

FMCSA,has outlawed cell phone use, can someone tell why i cannot find anyone to help me with HOS violations by the company where i work. Florida dot tells me they are 1000 complaints backlogged. So where do i go for help. Have drivers working from 75 to 100 plus hrs. aweek. Safe from cell phones drivers, not to sure about tired driver though

[Saiful Mahmud Adnan]

Ban of cell phone when driving can reduce the car accident but beside that we have to keep in mind the importance of cell phone. We must find out an alternate of hand use cell phone. I think we should take help from technology. I heard that FMCSA also Bans Professional Drivers from Using Cell Phones from http://blog.gibraltarrisk.com/blog/bid/113640/FMCSA-Bans-Professional-Drivers-From-Using-Cell-Phones. This is not great news for drivers because cell phone is an emergency device for transferring information.

[Griffin]

While I'm driving, I've seen it so many times that the driver in the other car is on the phone and is not responding to the traffic. I want handheld sets to be permanently banned while someone is driving. I can't begin to tell how beneficial it would be to maintain safety on roads.

[K Naugle]

The 2009 statistics, of 41000 accidents, 5000 involved trucks. Not to make light of it, but more people die because of drinking. The rules on truckers are strick, even more so than pilots. It took 25 years for them to catch up!