New South Wales is going an extra mile to encourage hands-free phone use while driving. Australia’s largest state by population is cracking down on distracted driving and is the first jurisdiction in the world to use cameras to catch drivers distracted by theirhand-held mobile phones, and prosecute them. Drivers who use phones illegally while driving are four times as likely to cause an accident. Road safety experts have grown more and more alarmed at the increasing prevalence of accidents on New South Wales roads that involve drivers using smartphones. Those…
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Arizona cellphone driving ban to go into effect in 2021
The statewide law bans texting while driving and other hand-held mobile use while driving. An Arizona cellphone driving ban has been passed into law, making Arizona the 48th state to ban drivers from using hand-held mobile devices when behind the wheel. The law prohibits texting while driving and even holding or supporting a cellphone with any part of the body while driving. Drivers caught violating laws will not face fines until January 2021. Although Arizona Republic Governor Doug Ducey signed the Arizona cellphone driving ban into law, the ban has…
Read MoreA new hands-free phone driving law could come into effect in Florida in 2019
The new bill seeks to cut down on distracted driving in the state. Florida Representative Jackie Toledo filed a bill for the 2019 legislative session that would essentially enact a hands-free phone driving law throughout the state. Passing this House Bill 107 would allow law enforcement officers to pull over motorists who talk or text on handheld mobile phones while driving. If passed, the new law would make texting while driving a primary offense. Texting while driving in Florida is against the law but it is presently treated as a…
Read MoreMobile phone use while driving can get your license taken away
The United Kingdom is now preparing to ban drivers who have been caught twice with smartphones. For some drivers in the U.K., being caught twice for mobile phone use behind the wheel will be enough to be banned from driving. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is getting ready to make penalties twice as strong. This could mean some drivers won’t just face fines and demerit points, they’ll lose their licenses, too. Smartphone use while driving has led to the deaths of 22 people last year in Great Britain. Now, the…
Read MoreMobile technology use behind the wheel is declining among teens
A recent study has shown that adolescents aren’t as likely to text while driving as they once were. According to the results of a new study on mobile technology use that was conducted in Canada as a collaboration between Simon Fraser University (with a team of researchers led by professor Simon Pek) and the University of Regina (under professor Sean Tucker), the number of teens who are texting while behind the wheel could be falling. The research was conducted over a period of three years and took two groups of…
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