Brian Debelle
As a part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, West Virginia truck drivers are calling for motorists to exercise more caution on roads.
In cooperation with the American Trucking Association and its Share the Road highway safety program, the West Virginia Trucking Association is working to warn society of the inherent dangers associated with distracted driving.
“People just need to slow down, pay attention and focus on their driving,” WVTA President Jan Vineyard told MetroNews in West Virginia. “They need to be worried about getting to their destination safely.”
She also cited texting as the main tendency of distracted drivers that they’re aiming to change.
“Can a text wait five minutes? If it can’t, then find some place to pull off the road and to make that text,” she advised.
Distracted driving is the number one cause of auto accidents and deaths through the United States, according to Vineyard. Furthermore, she revealed that truck drivers have seen various forms of distracted driving behaviors while on the road.
“We look down and see what the public is doing. We see ladies putting on makeup, we see kids distracting the driver, we see people eating, texting, changing the radio,” she stated.
The WVTA wants to remind motorists to set a good example for young drivers by putting away their phones and keeping them out of sight, getting plenty of sleep the night before driving, eliminating texting while driving, and securing all items inside the vehicle.
According to a press release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), federal, state, and local law enforcement “will be out raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving” throughout this month, with a national law enforcement crackdown having taken place from April 8 to April 13. Any driver caught texting or using mobile devices behind the wheel will be issued citations in states where these behaviors are banned.
Recent Comments