According to Secretary of Transporation Ray LaHood, car crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths in the United States. Nearly 5,500 people in the US were killed in 2009 by distracted driving accidents.
LaHood says that a poll conducted by the department revealed that 63 percent of drivers under the age of 30 admit to using a handheld phone while driving a vehicle. And 30 percent admit to sending text messages while driving.
"Distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic on America's roads, and teens are especially vulnerable because of their inexperience behind the wheel and, often, peer pressure," LaHood said.
But young people are not the only ones who are distracted behind the wheel. The same survey shows that 41 percent of those 30 and older acknowledged that they had driven while operating a cell phone and 9 percent that they had sent text messages while driving.
Category: Distracted Driving Accidents
(1) A person operating a moving motor vehicle who, by means of an electronic wireless communications device, sends, reads, or writes a text message, is guilty of a traffic infraction. A person does not send, read, or write a text message when he or she reads, selects, or enters a phone number or name in a wireless communications device for the purpose of making a phone call. See RCW 46.61.668.
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