At the 2010 national Distracting Driving Summit held on September 21, lawmakers announced intentions to extend the laws prohibiting truck drivers from sending or receiving text messages on their cell phones while driving.
The rule now extends to truckers hauling hazardous materials.
Text-messaging while driving has been under scrutiny all over the country recently as state and federal governments have cracked down on distracted driving.
According to several recent studies, distracted driving is one of the biggest causes of traffic accidents in the country, accounting for thousands of fatalities every year.
Some university studies have even suggested that text-messaging while driving may be even more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.
Unsurprisingly, measures were taken by the Department of Transportation to prevent bus and truck drivers from texting while driving and text-messaging at the same time - a ban which becomes official law sometime in October, 2010.
The rule additionally restricts train conductors from operating cell phones and other electronic devices while on the job.
The new rule closes a loophole that failed to ban the dangerous cell-phone behavior from hazardous-materials drivers.
According to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the new rule will go a long way towards making the trucking industry - and roads in general - safer.
The new rule banning hazmat truckers from texting while driving will also go into effect in October, towards the end of the month (30 days after being posted in the Federal Register).
Additionally, according to the Department of Transportation, 1,600 American companies (covering a total of 10.
5 million employees) have adopted rules against distracted driving.
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