Congress announces distracted driving bill

Congress recently introduced a bill aimed at reducing crashes involving distracted drivers and preventing first responder deaths.

This bill would require the installation of safety technologies that counter distracted driving in all new vehicles, including automatic braking systems and lane departure warnings in all new vehicles within five years. These types of systems are included in many new vehicles, but typically only as upgrades.

This legislation would also provide states with funding to add digital alert technology to trigger “move over” warnings in navigation apps, and would expand grants for move over public information campaigns. Every state has a move over law that requires drivers to slow down or switch lanes when they pass emergency vehicles (and in many states this also includes tow trucks and transportation maintenance vehicles), but safety experts say many drivers don’t know about the laws.

About eight people are killed every day in crashes that involve a distracted driver (CDC), amounting to 3,000 deaths and 400,000 injuries a year.