Recently announced, those who drive vehicles in the transportation industry and courier services industry are going to be federally banned from texting under federal guidelines that the US transportation Sec. Ray LaHood announced.

“We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe,” LaHood said in a statement. “This is an important safety step, and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”
This is effective immediately.

Those drivers who choose to text while conducting their commercial vehicle can receive the civil or criminal penalties up to $2750. This is received from the Department of Transportation in a news release.

There was no further information on the release on how prohibition will be enforced on the federal basis.
As recent as September 2009, the Transportation Department launched a website located at http://www.distraction.gov to raise awareness of the sheer magnitude of the dangers of this corrected drivers.

During this month, January 2010, the national safety Council President Janet Froetsher announced the creation of the ad as a group named FocusDriven.  This is an organization that sports the families from those victims of distracted drivers and this is a nonprofit organization That Is Modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

It is said that drivers take their eyes off the road for at least 4.5 seconds out of every 6 seconds while they are texting. This means that if driver chooses to text their eyes off the road at least 75% of the time.  There is a clear correlation with research that shows drivers who text are at least 2000% more likely to crash their vehicle.

As of January 2010, there are at least 19 states have passed laws banning texting while driving. Six of these states including the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, completely ban the use of any handheld device while conducting a motor vehicle.
Included in this push, Pres. Obama signed an executive order requiring all federal employees do not text while driving any government-owned vehicles or government-owned equipment. This took effect January 1, 2010.
Information from the national Highway traffic safety administration, indicated more than 5900 people died in 2008 in automobile crashes that involved a driver that was texting, and there were at least half 1 million individuals in the United States that were injured.

In light of this new law, it is highly recommended and encouraged at every single independent contractor and driver in Courier and transportation industry do not utilize any of their devices while conducting their vehicle. When providing courier services, a driver to pull over to the side of the road to communicate with their electronic device.