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Klobuchar Leads Senate Resolution to Designate April 2010 as Distracted Driving Month

April 30th named "No Phone Day"

April 30, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led a resolution to designate April as “Distracted Driving Awareness Month” to increase awareness of the dangers of texting while driving and the thousands of motorists nationwide who have lost their lives as a result.

“Texting while driving simply is not safe.  We need drivers to stay alert and keep their eyes on the road, both for their own safety and the safety of their fellow drivers,” said Klobuchar.  “Not too long ago, drunk driving was often viewed as just a traffic violation, but now we recognize the severity of this offense. We need to do the same for texting and distracted driving.”

Thirty-two states have no laws that restrict texting while driving. A recent national research study found that drivers are 23 times more likely to get into an accident when texting while driving.  The researchers observed that, in the moments before a crash or near-crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their electronic devices.  At normal highway speeds, that is enough time to cover more than the full length of a football field.

Also, a national survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 87 percent of the public considers texting while driving to be a “very serious threat” to their safety.  The public fears drivers who are texting nearly as much as they fear drivers who are drunk.

Klobuchar is a cosponsor of both the Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009 and the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act” (ALERT Drivers Act).

Joining Klobuchar in sponsoring the resolution were Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Roland Burris (D-IL), Bob Casey (D-PA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

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