NTSB Proposes Cell Phone Ban for Texas Truck & Bus Drivers

After ruling the cause of a deadly truck accident in Kentucky was due to a distracted truck driver, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has proposed commercial truck and bus drivers be banned from using cell phones while driving.

In 2010, truck driver Kenneth Laymon was traveling on Interstate 65 in Kentucky when he made a phone call that cost not only his life, but the lives of ten others. After losing control of his 38 ton truck, he crossed the highway's median and drove straight into oncoming traffic, hitting a van filled with passengers on their way to a wedding.

Because the NTSB does not have the power to enact a regulation, it has taken its proposal to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the 50 states. Under the proposal, lawmakers in each state would have to enact legislation to ban commercial truck and bus drivers from using their cell phones while driving.

Critics argue that getting each state to enact this type of legislation will be difficult to do. Some in the industry, including the American Trucking Association, support a ban on hand-held devices, but not hands-free devices.

"This is not going to be popular. But, we're not here to be popular. We're here to do what needs to be done," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman.

Currently, Texas does not have a law banning the use of hand-held devices state-wide. However, bus drivers with passengers under the age of 17 are prohibited from texting on cell phones while driving.

Laymon was working for Hester, Inc., a trucking company based out of Alabama, at the time of the accident. The FMCSA shut down Hester, Inc. after the accident. The company had 21 driver violations for, among other things, exceeding the limit on driving hours.