Texting while driving News

Police chiefs in British Columbia want stricter distracted driving laws including higher fines, giving police the ability to seize cell phones of distracted drivers, and are even considering seizing vehicles of offenders.

Montreal - In his report of an accident that killed two volunteer firefighters, Montreal coroner Michel Ferland recommended police seize the phones of drivers found to be texting while driving.

Omaha - An organization advocating cellphone-free driving is calling on government and law-enforcement agencies to automatically revoke driving licenses of people caught texting while behind the wheel.

Toronto - The incident came to the attention of the Toronto Transit Commission the way most such incidents do these days. A video was taken of the operator driving and then posted on YouTube.

Washington - In a unanimous board vote, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced Tuesday states should institute bans on cellphone use while driving, including other personal electronic devices (PEDs). .

The app, available to Sprint customers with Android phones, would have their phones disabled while they are driving to prevent distracted driving.

Yonkers - A new partnership has been announced to help educate teachers, parents and teens in an attempt at preventing young drivers from distracted driving, a risk involving texting and cell phone use that has reached “a deadly epidemic” level in the US.

An independent research study showed that besides texting, people were engaging in other activities at an elevated rate that endangered them and others on the road.

The world of technology has brought with it a crash course in the school of hard knocks for an Austin, Texas driver. Two months after a texting while driving ban went into effect, some drivers still seem unaware of its severity.

A Portland, Oregon teen was recently given a five-year prison sentence for a hit-and-run auto accident that killed his teacher. He was driving while texting on his phone, something which has now been outlawed in Oregon.