During the first year that New York has made texting while driving a primary offense, authorizing police to pull one over upon observing the violation, more than 20,000 citations have been given. That is an increase from the previous year’s 4,569 citations.
To date, 38 other states, plus the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have banned texting while driving. Similar legislation is pending in Missouri. During the past seven months, Nevada, Idaho, West Virginia, Alabama, and Ohio have enacted or announced plans to soon enact laws making the usage of a handheld mobile phone while driving illegal. While the laws differ within each State, the gist remains – the reason for the usage behind the wheel is irrelevant. Being caught calling or texting may result in fines and or points on the driver’s motor vehicle record.
For fleet managers, these laws are relevant to corporate policy. When a fleet driver gets pulled over and cited for texting while driving, who pays the fine?
As a fleet manager, are you still calling or texting your drivers with new routes, additional customer stops, or just to check in? If so, you could be a part of the problem. There is a better solution. By using a GPS tracking device, the need to check in goes away. The GPS tracking device maps the exact route needed and tracks the drivers’ location in real-time. With dispatching capability, you can update driver routes by sending messages straight to the GPS tracking device. Dispatching via the GPS tracking devices updates drivers’ routes without worry of violating the law.
Source: Map: www.iihs.org/