Filed by KOSU News in US News.
January 27, 2010

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has issued a full ban on texting while driving any bus and truck.

Nobody knows for sure how many accidents result from truck and bus drivers trying to text behind the wheel.

Distracted drivers aren’t likely to admit they took their eyes off the road, and it’s hard for police to know in retrospect what was going on inside a vehicle before a wreck.

In some cases where the link is known, the results often have been tragic.

The American Trucking Association and American Bus Association say they support the federal ban, as do many rank-and-file drivers.

The transportation department also is considering a ban on the dashboard computers that many truckers use to get instructions from their dispatchers.

The department may even decide to prohibit commercial drivers from using cell phones at all — even to talk —– unless their vehicle is parked. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio