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EDITOR'S JOURNAL RANDY GRIDER www.truckersnews.com VOLUME 36 ISSUE 1 Hanging it up Time to push the universal end button on distracted driving UNFORTUNATELY, TRUCKERS HAVE A TARGET ON THEIR BACKS IN ANY ACCIDENT NO MATTER WHO IS AT FAULT. n late November, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra- tion formally banned commercial drivers from using handheld cell phones and other communication devices while driving. It went into effect Jan. 1. The U.S. Department of Transportation had already banned truckers from texting while driving. The new regs have spawned a great deal of response from truckers — mainly con- cerning how they were I being unfairly singled out by regulators. They point to drivers of four- wheelers who in sheer num- bers pose the biggest public threat with distracted driving, espe- cially cell phone use. Truckers regularly report wit- nessing drivers who are texting and swerving and dialing the phone and drifting across the center line or off the road. It has gotten to the point that it's almost impossible to drive one mile without seeing some- one using their cell phone in some unsafe fashion. The truth is no one should be texting while driving. It is extremely dangerous. And it's pretty hard to argue that having both eyes 4 TRUCKERS NEWS JANUARY 2012 Randy Grider is editor of Truckers News. Write him at rgrider@ randallreilly.com. on the road and both hands on the wheel is not the safest way to drive. This tried-and-true method har- kens all the way back to high school driver's education for many of us. Unfortunately many people — especially commuters and young drivers — have forgotten that high- way travel demands a person's full attention. Distractions while driving sometimes leads to deadly results. Many states have laws concern- ing cell phone use while driving. So far there is no federal law that makes cell phone use while driving a violation. And that needs to come from Congress because the FMCSA has no authority to regulate the general driving public. Perhaps there should be a tougher uniform law that severely punishes any person who injures or kills someone while purposely allowing themselves to be distracted by a cell phone, radio or whatever while behind the wheel of a vehicle. Unfortunately, truckers have a target on their backs in any acci- dent no matter who is at fault. The mainstream press — whether it's intentional or not — has histori- cally branded truckers as the aggres- sor in truck-related crashes. Truckers are right that handheld cell phone use while driving is not a trucking problem. It's a cultural problem that increasingly impacts all motorists. We would be much bet- ter off if everyone would just hang up and drive . 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