ATA Leaders Vote Overwhelmingly to Support Sen. Schumer's Anti-Texting Bill

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Trucking
Associations' Executive Committee voted overwhelmingly yesterday to support a
bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to ban texting by all
drivers. Also yesterday, the ATA Board of Directors approved policy statements
on onboard safety systems, natural gas as a truck fuel, and educating and
testing passenger vehicle drivers on operating safely near trucks.

The 42-member committee voted to support Sen. Schumer's approach to the hazard
of texting, which would require states to enact and enforce a law that "except
in the event of an emergency, prohibits an operator of a moving motor vehicle
from writing, sending, or reading a text message using a hand-held mobile
telephone" or other personal electronic device.

The bill is known as the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by
Drivers Act, or the ALERT Drivers Act, and was introduced also by Sens. Robert
Menendez (D-N.J.), Mary Landrieu (D-L.A.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.). This
legislation was drafted after several mass transit crashes were caused by
distracted operators and after Virginia Tech researchers revealed that drivers
are 23 times more likely to get into a crash when texting on their phones. The
bill defines a hand-held mobile telephone as mobile telephone or other
portable electronic communication device with which a user engages in a call
or writes, sends or reads a text message using at least one hand. It does not
include a vehicle-integrated, voice-activated device.

"A year ago, trucking industry leaders called the nation's attention to the
dangers of texting and cell phone use by drivers of all motor vehicles," said
ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. "ATA is continuing this leadership this
year by supporting Sen. Schumer's effort to eliminate this dangerous threat to
safety on our highways."

On other issues important to the trucking industry, the ATA's Board of
Directors voted to approve three new policy statements supporting the use of
onboard safety systems, use of natural gas as a truck fuel, and the safety
value of requiring that passenger vehicle driver education classes educate and
test drivers on operating safely near commercial motor vehicles. The text of
each of those resolutions are:

Onboard Technology
"ATA supports the use of onboard safety systems for all motor vehicles in an
effort to enhance the safety of all roadway users (to include, but not limited
to, lane departure warning systems, brake stroke monitoring systems, automated
transmissions, vehicle stability control and collision avoidance systems) and
believes incentives should be provided to encourage their adoption."

Natural Gas
"Natural gas should remain a voluntary alternative fuel. The trucking
industry supports financial incentives to encourage trucking companies to use
natural gas, provided that those financial incentives do not reduce money
allocated to the highway trust fund. The trucking industry opposes government
actions that artificially increase the cost of diesel fuel compared to other
transportation fuels."

Passenger Vehicle Driver Education and Testing
"States that currently conduct driver education shall educate and test new
drivers on awareness and safe interaction with commercial motor vehicle
traffic. Such education must require classroom instruction and
behind-the-wheel training that includes, but is not limited to, truck stopping
distances, proper distances for following trucks, identification of truck
blind spots, and avoidance of driving in those blind spots. Testing shall also
include the above issues."

The American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association
for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups,
industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking
associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of
motor carrier in the United States.

SOURCE American Trucking Associations

Clayton Boyce of the American Trucking Associations, +1-703-838-7902,
+1-703-408-3716