MA Close to Outlawing Handheld Cellphones While Driving

The Boston Globe reported last week that the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee has approved a bill that would prohibit Massachusetts drivers from using handheld cellphones while driving. The unanimous 8-0 vote is the first step in an attempt to make the Commonwealth the 10th state in the U.S. to ban drivers from using handheld cellphones while behind the wheel.

Now that the Committee has approved the bill, the House and Senate will be next to review the bill and ultimately decide its fate. There is no exact date that has been made public as to when a vote is expected to take place.

While the bill would outlaw handheld cellphones, it would allow drivers to use hands-free technology while at the wheel. If the bill is passed, drivers whose cellphones are not equipped with hands-free technology will either have to wait to use their phones until they get to their destination or will have to pull over and park in order to take the call.

In September of 2010, the Safe Driving Law came into effect in Massachusetts. The Safe Driving Law banned drivers under the age of 18 from using a cellphone at all while driving and also prohibited drivers of all ages from texting. Since the enactment of the law officials have faced a number of challenges, including trying to establish when a driver is dialing a number or actually texting.

Over the next few months, we should have a better idea on where the hands-free campaign is heading and what that will mean for the future of talking while driving in Massachusetts. In the meantime, please drive safely.

When Should You Call a Massachusetts Car Accidents Attorney?

Have you or a loved one suffered serious injuries in a car accident in Massachusetts due to another driver’s distracted driving?

Call a Massachusetts car accidents attorney with Kiley Law Group at (800) 410-2769 to find out about your legal options.

DOT Extends Texting Ban to Truck Drivers

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced at a distracted driving conference yesterday that in-state truck drivers who transport hazardous waste will be banned from sending text messages.

The Washington Post reported that the texting ban which prohibited truckers and commercial bus drivers now includes in-state truckers who who deliver gasoline, propane and other hazardous materials.

The extended texting ban is part of ongoing efforts to ban distracted driving and cell phone-related accidents which claim thousands of lives on US roads every year.

A new goal for LaHood is to get private employers to adopt restrictions on their employees' cellphone use.

President Obama a year ago prohibited federal workers from texting while behind the wheel of government vehicles, and from using government-issued cell phones to text even while driving their own cars.

Distracted Driving Fatalities Fall by 6%

This summer Massachusetts joined 29 other states that ban texting and driving. The ban, which comes into effect in October, is aimed at reducing accident fatalities and injuries caused by distracted driving.

In an encouraging turn of events, the US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced yesterday that deaths related to distracted driving fell by 6% in 2009. Injuries stemming from distracted driving accidents declined by 4%, he said.

The news which was reported at the second annual Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, DC, can be connected to the 30 states' initiatives to curb dangerous habits like texting while driving in all drivers, but especially teenagers.

According to the Governors' Highway Safety Association (GHSA), last year alone, 12 states: Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming, have have banned the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving.

Thirty states have now introduced texting & driving bans.

Stateline.org reports that while Congress is yet to ban distracted driving on a national level, the GHSA soon may go a step further and aim for a complete ban on mobile phone use while driving.

"Though the GHSA is little known to the general public, endorsement of a total ban could prove pivotal in swaying the debate over the technology America has come to love and the risk it poses on the roadway," The Washington Post reported.

The GHSA is made up of state highway safety officials from across the nation.

The association will decide on endorsement of a complete ban when its annual meeting begins on Sunday, September 26, the Post said.

See the GHSA website for more information.

Alcohol and Speed Caused Westborough Teen Crashes

Two separate crashes in one week involving teenage Westborough drivers were a result of alcohol, speed and inexperience, police said. A total of six teens were injured in the crashes.

The first crash, which happened on Sunday morning at 4 am, involved an intoxicated driver crashing his car into a tree on Ruggles Street. Police said there were four Westborough High students in the car driven by Vaughn Sewell, 18, who was drunk and speeding.

Sewell did not have a driver's license, only a learner's permit.

According to Massachusetts law, drivers with a learning permit are required to have an adult over 21 with a valid license and at least one year of driving experience in the front passenger's seat. Learning permit drivers are also restricted from driving between the hours of midnight and 5 am unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, which Sewell was not.

All four teens suffered injuries in the crash.

Sewell, his front-seat 16-year-old passenger, and two girls in the back seat (Alina Bayborodin, 17, and another 15-year-old girl who sustained minor injuries) were taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

The second crash happened on Wednesday in which Andrey L. Golenko, 19, crashed his car on Flanders Road. His passenger, Ilya Bely, 18, was seriously injured. Golenko suffered minor injuries.

Golenko also didn't have a license.

Police said this accident was also caused due to excessive speed, alcohol and inexperience.

These two crashes are a sober reminder to teens to take driving more serously. Parents are advised to educate their teens to become responsible drivers since more than one life can be ruined in an auto accident.

We offer our free Safe Driving Contract between Parents and Teenagers to further throw light on this issue.

You can download the contract by visiting Boston car accident attorney Thomas M. Kiley's website.

Mass. Auto-Repair Bill Fails to Pass

The "Right to Repair" bill that would have allowed Massachusetts residents to get their vehicles fixed at a wider range of locations has failed to gain approval in by the Senate in July.

The bill never came up for a House vote before the end of legislative session last Saturday, news reports said.

It is bad news for Mass. drivers since the bill would have let them repair their cars at authorized dealerships and independent auto dealerships, since it would have required authorized dealerships to sell the correct codes, tools and information needed to repair cars to independent ones.

Without such information independent dealerships cannot repair many cars.

Opponents of the bill argue that releasing such proprietary information would give a competitive advantage to makers of generic parts.

If passed, Massachusetts would have become the first US state to pass such a measure.