Obama bans text messaging by gov't drivers

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- President Barack Obama signed an executive order barring the nation's 3 million federal workers from sending text messages while driving government vehicles, the White House said Thursday.

The directive, ordered Wednesday night, also applies to privately owned vehicles if the employee is on official business.

Obama's order encourages federal contractors and others doing business with the government to adopt and enforce their own policies banning texting while driving on the job.

Transportation Department officials plan to seek a federal ban by truck and interstate bus operators on text messaging and restricting the use of cell phones through the regulatory process.

"This order sends a very clear signal to the American public that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "It shows that the federal government is leading by example."

But Obama's order also allows for some wiggle room. Agencies can exempt employees "engaged in or used for protective, law enforcement, or national security responsibilities or on the basis of other emergency conditions."

The action was announced at the end of a two-day summit held by the Transportation Department intended to crack down on distracted driving. The department said road deaths linked to distracted driving climbed to 16 percent of all highway fatalities, or about 5,800, up from 12 percent in 2007.

More than 300 people took part in the summit held at a Washington hotel.

LaHood said the department is starting the rule-making process toward other restrictions:

• Imposing permanent restrictions on the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices in rail operations.

• Pulling the commercial licenses of school bus drivers who are convicted of texting while driving.

"Keeping Americans safe is without question the federal government's highest priority -- and that includes safety on the road, as well as on mass transit and rail," LaHood said.

LaHood supports efforts in Congress to ban text messaging behind the wheel. A bill sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., would withhold 25 percent of state highway funding if a state doesn't ban texting behind the wheel by drivers. A House version would do the same.

A total of 18 states and the District of Columbia have banned texting behind the wheel. Michigan has not done so.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs admitted to texting while behind the wheel but pledged to change his behavior.

"We've all read accounts of horrific accidents, of what happens," Gibbs said. "We've all done this and we all understand that had we not looked up at a certain point we might have hit somebody in front of us. And it's a serious problem, and this is the beginning of addressing that."

dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735