Safety Group Calls for More Cell Phone Ban Data

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It is currently legal in 41 states allowing drivers to use cell phones, and a leading highway safety organization recommends keeping it that way.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, GHSA, believes states should not ban anything yet until effective research has been done by states.

“The problem is the research is conflicting on the issue,” executive director of the group Barbara Harsha says, who advises on safety traffic. “We don’t know if handheld bans are effective, and we don’t know if they actually make the problem worse.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety last year said it found no reductions in crashes after the use of cell phones while driving was banned in California, Connecticut, New York, and Washington, D.C.

The National Safety Council believes handheld cell phones don’t expand and cover enough territory. “We think there is enough research to enact total bans, handheld, and hands-free,” say senior director of transportation initiatives at the NSC David Teater. “And there’s no evidence that hands-free devices provide any safety impact.”

The federal agency that tracks road deaths, otherwise known as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says “we feel strongly there is robust evidence on the dangers of distracted driving,” says the administration’s director of communications.

The GHSA had made its recommendations after looking at research on distracted driving since the year 2000, which are about 350 studies.

This of course led to questions from governors and state legislators who are trying to unravel the unfolding aspects of road safety.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made curbing distracted driving as a severe issue.

Some corporations are also trying to restrict the use of cellphones from employees while being in company vehicles. The use of cell phones is limited among federal workers.

Nine states and the District of Columbia have banned cell phones for all drivers, which makes the greatest motive from lawmakers.

Texting while driving is still illegal in 34 states, not including the District of Columbia. Twelve states had it banned in 2009, and 11 banned it last year, but only two have so far this year.

No states currently ban all cell phone use by all drivers of all ages.

Study Shows Risks of Texting While Driving, New Technology to Prevent it

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A recent study shows that cell phone use while driving increases the chance of getting into possibly fatal crashes. This study now prompts companies and safety groups, along with the U.S. government debate to have a crackdown on gadget use behind the wheel.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, otherwise known as GHSA, studied over 350 documents which reported the connection between cell phone usage and car crashes. It discovered a link between texting and higher safety risks while driving, and suggested states to allow their own research before deciding to ban phone usage while driving.

“States that have not already passed handheld bans should wait until more definitive research and data are available on these laws’ effectiveness,” the study concluded. “There is no evidence that cell phone or texting bans have reduced crashes.”

However, the GHSA suggested a ban on cell phone usage for teenage driver statewide because they are at the highest risk for crashes, being so new to the road and unaware of problems that could possibly occur.
“Despite all that has been written about drive distraction, there is still a lot that we do not know,” Barbara Harsha, the GHSA’s executive director said. “Clearly, more studies need to be done addressing both the scope of the problem and how to effectively address it.”

Safety groups like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disagree.

“NHTSA agrees with the GHSA recommendation that states should take a data-driven approach in making decisions about whether to push for laws mandating certain driver behaviors,” said the spokeswomen for NHTSA, Lynda Tran“But we feel strongly there is robust evidence on the dangers of distracted driving.”
Before the research of GHSA, states began limiting roadway cell phone usage to hands-free devices including headsets and Bluetooth earpieces. Studies also show drivers using apps behind the wheel of their vehicle, which began cell phone regulation.

30 states currently prohibit all cell phone usage from new drivers, and require all conversations to be used with a hands-free device. 34 states have now banned texting while driving which has penalties of large fines on violators.

The federal government and wireless carriers are also trying to limit cell phone use while driving along with the states’ efforts. The Obama administration has also began thinking of adding warning labels, like the ones on cigarette packages, on phones to keep awareness to consumers about the dangers of texting and driving.

The U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood referred to distracted driving as an “epidemic” that has already killed thousands and injured almost half of a million people on the U.S. roads last year.
T-Mobile and Sprint are also taking action to fight against distracted driving. T-Mobile is adding a “DriveSmart” service to its menu to disable functions of the phone once the vehicle starts moving by sensing rapid movements between cell towers. Once the vehicle is on the road for ten seconds, the service automatically sends out voicemail with a message which explains that the person is driving.
Sprint’s “DriveFirst” feature also includes many of the same features. The services can be disable in the event of an emergency.

As long as distracted driving doesn’t continue to remain a problem, governments and many corporations will likely continue to focus on this issue until it is resolved. Stricter regulations and more services like DriveSmart should be the new wave of protection for the younger crowd as technology expands.

Justin Bieber’s Anti Texting Campaign, Shady?

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Justin Bieber is now introducing a new campaign to try and prevent texting and driving. He is taking necessary steps to send the right message, however he is teaming up with a company known for being run-down and was run by a felon until just recently.

“It is tragic that almost on a daily basis there are reports of deaths and severe injuries caused by drivers who are texting and driving,” Bieber said in a statement yesterday announcing his new partnership with the makers of the anti-texting software PhoneGuard. “We need to change the attitudes in our society toward texting and driving and I am making it one of my personal goals to make this happen.”
Justin Bieber is extremely serious about trying to curb texting and driving. He is now even the part-owner of Options Media Group Holdings (OPMG), a floundering tech company out of Boca Raton, Florida which is a distributor for PhoneGuard technology. Justin Bieber was issued 121 million shares this year, which is 16 percent of the company, adding up to about a penny a share, which is a deal referred to as the company’s SEC filings called “The Bieber Agreement”.

The former president of OPMG, Anthony Sasso, resigned from his position after an online blog said he had been convicted of racketeering in 2004 for his role in a car theft incident. The CEO of OPMG, Scott Frohman, partakes in Money4Gold, Inc. which is a place to exchange your jewelry advertised on TV.
Because OPMG doesn’t have much experience in tech, it’s no surprise to the company that reported $10 million in losses the year before and has been barely able to maintain its financial deals since then. Last year at the time of the report, it had only enough money to last 45 days.

OPMG’s plan appears to look like it’s going to try to use Bieber to add stock and assets to the company through his new texting-while-driving awareness campaign, while incorporating the use of social media like Twitter and Facebook with regular updates. Timothy Sykes, who has criticized OPMG on his blog, says that even with the new team effort with Bieber, he still believe the company will fail. OPMG has issued more than a billion shares and is hoping Bieber can help boost sales.

Justin Bieber is also joining 50 Cent, Carmen Electra, and Shaq in financial investments with near-worthless penny stocks. 50 Cent apparently boasted about his H&H Imports investment on Twitter. Bieber’s camp is trying to become more savvy by adding his penny stock treasures to an awareness campaign. Sadly OPMG’s stock is still down a cent tonight, even after Bieber’s huge announcement to the world.