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Nov 17, 2009 5:57 pm US/Eastern
Board Bans Texting For School Bus Drivers
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Between keeping one eye on the road and the other on the kids in the back, school bus drivers don't need any added distractions. With that in mind, Miami-Dade County's school board Tuesday voted to impose a ban on cell phone calls and texting behind the wheel. The ban extends beyond school bus drivers to include any employee driving a school district vehicle.
The prohibition was proposed by board member Larry Feldman. "It's a matter of safety for our people," Feldman told CBS4 reporter Gary Nelson. "We have young lives to protect."
Under Feldman's measure, school bus drivers may not text and drive, and may only make hands-free phone calls. In an emergency drivers could text or phone, but would first have to pull off the road and come to a stop.
The plan got no argument from school bus driver Kim Black, waiting for kids to get out at Coral Gables high school Tuesday afternoon. "I think they need to ban that," Black said. "That's a distraction to a lot of drivers."
Parent Grace Blanco agreed as she picked her child up at Coral Gables elementary school. "It's a good idea to stop that, for anyone, and for a bus driver, with children they're responsible for, it's even more important," Blanco said.
Studies have shown a majority of drivers admit to having texted while behind the wheel. Research also shows texting drivers are more impaired than those who are legally drunk.
School Board member Feldman lamented Florida's lack of a statewide ban on texting by all drivers. Twenty states prohibit texting while driving. "In California, since they've enacted their law, distraction-related accidents have declined by 70 percent," Feldman said.
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