A federal safety group is calling for banning the use of cell phones by truckers and other commercial drivers, citing the use of a phone 69 times within 24 hours by a driver in a deadly tractor-trailer crash that killed 11 people in Kentucky.
The National Transportation Safety Board is the latest group to seek such regulations. It recommended on Tuesday that cell phone use be banned while driving commerial vehicles except in cases of emergency.
“Distracted driving is becoming increasingly prevalent, exacerbating the danger we encounter daily on our roadways,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said in a statement. “It can be especially lethal when the distracted driver is at the wheel of a vehicle that weighs 40 tons and travels at highway speeds.”
A cell phone was the likely cause of the March 2010 crash near Munfordville, Ky, according to an NTSB investigation. The tractor-trailer crossed over a median into the opposite lanes and hit a van carrying 12 people. The truck driver and 10 others were killed. The driver had made four calls just minutes before the crash, including right before it, the NTSB said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has sought a similar rule. And many agencies, such as Metro, have already banned their drivers from using phones, firing employees on a first offense for using them while driving. Federal workers have been banned from texting while driving government-owned vehicles since 2009.
