The US Transportation Department just offered a plan to forbid text messaging while driving by cross-state truck and bus drivers.  This regulatory action follows up on Department of Transportation public service program to reduce distractions that lead to accidents.

The proposal would make permanent an interim ban put in place in January by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.  The proposed ban applies to drivers of passenger buses and commercial trucks operating vehicles with a gross vehicle weight over ten thousand pounds.  As an indication of the scope of the issue, the drivers could face civil penalities and/or even criminal penalties.

The US Department of Transportation reported that 5,870 people were killed and about 515,000 were injured in 2008 in accidents involving distracted drivers.  They didn’t speculate how many of those accidents involved mobile device.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration echoes the Transportation Department estimates with projection that about eighty percent of crashes are caused by distracted drivers.  The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is funding research to determine the extent of the distracted driver issue.  The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)   reports that driver inattention is a determining factor in many crashes, and mobile phone use and texting are some of the most common driver distractions.

States aren’t waiting for research reports and are passing new regulations dealing with mobile phone use  and texting .  The GHSA reports that twenty states and the District of Columbia ban all drivers from texting while behind the wheel.  An additional nine states restricting texting by novice drivers.  The remaining states are expected to implement the ban eventually.  But it is also believed that the laws are not enough to stop the problem and technical solutions are neede.  The GHSA purports to say it supports texting bans for all drivers, but has doubts about enforcement.

One source of a potential solution is Phone Beagle.  PhoneBeagle installs on Android and BlackBerry smartphones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other phone log activity.

The trucking and passenger bus industries support the text message ban, and many corporations have strict policies restricting texting when behind the wheel.  The government, industry and safety organizations all agree that distracted drivers  caused bysending text messages is extremely dangerous, and deserves action.  Advocates for dealing with the problem also include celebrity Oprah.  

Undoubtedly there are many distractions which may prevent a driver focusing on driving:  changing the radio or a inserting tape or CD, talking to passengers, rubber necking, and of course, using cell phones and texting.  Navigational and other interactive devices also cause inattention.

As legislation and technology work to to solve the problems a software package from  Phone Beagle is available to help deal with monitoring phone use.  PhoneBeagle is installed on Android and BlackBerry smartphones and monitors GPS location, and text messages along with other call log activity.

VOIP communications with the skype wi-fi phone technology.