SIGN THE PETITION TO PASS THE BAN ON TEXTING AND TALKING ON HAND-HELD CELL PHONES WHILE DRIVING
Studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Utah have all shown that drivers who talk on their cell phones are three to four times more likely to be involved in a crash.
A new study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that drivers who text while driving are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash than when not texting.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says that hand-held cell phones contributed to 1,245 crashes on Pennsylvania roadways in 2007. In contrast, there were 56 crashes on the state's roadways attributed to hands-free cell phones during the same year.
Another study by the Public Policy Institute of California found that states that enacted hand-held cell phone bans while driving saw traffic fatalities decrease between 9 percent and 21 percent after the ban went into effect. With 1,491 traffic fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2007, a ban on hand-held cell phones could save up to 313 lives on the Commonwealth's roadways.
California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, and the District of Columbia have already enacted bans.
We therefore request that the Pennsylvania General Assembly enact legislation that bans both texting and talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving on all public roads in Pennsylvania
Click here to see who else signed the petition.
|
