Bill Text: DE HR28 | 2013-2014 | 147th General Assembly | Draft

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Bill Title: Recognizing April 2014 As Distracted Driving Awareness And Enforcement Month.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 14-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-10 - Passed in House by Voice Vote [HR28 Detail]

Download: Delaware-2013-HR28-Draft.html

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SPONSOR:	Rep. Miro;
	Reps. D. Short, Gray, Hudson, Blakey, Briggs King, Dukes, Kenton, Outten, Ramone, Smyk, Spiegelman, Wilson, Baumbach, Jaques, Osienski

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.

RECOGNIZING APRIL 2014 AS DISTRACTED DRIVING AWARENESS AND ENFORCEMENT MONTH.

WHEREAS, distracted driving is a dangerous problem on Delaware roadways; and

WHEREAS, the National Safety Council has observed that at any given daylight moment, approximately 9% of drivers are talking on phones while driving; and

WHEREAS, the National Safety Council has further observed that drivers using cell phones are 4 times as likely to be in a crash and can miss seeing up to 50% of the roadway environment; and

WHEREAS, car crashes are the number one cause of unintentional deaths in the United States; and

WHEREAS, 11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash; and

WHEREAS, engaging in visual-manual subtasks, including reaching for a phone, dialing, and texting, associated with the use of hand-held phones and other portable devices increases the risk of getting into a crash by 3 times; and

WHEREAS, sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent - at 55 mph - of driving the length of an entire football field, blind; and

WHEREAS, cell phone use is a factor in nearly 1 in 4 crashes; and

WHEREAS, research has shown that because of the degree of cognitive distraction these devices cause, the behavior of drivers using mobile phones (whether hand-held or hands-free) is equivalent to the behavior of drivers at the threshold of the legal limit for alcohol (0.08 blood alcohol concentration); and

WHEREAS, a 2009 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that text messaging increases the risk of a safety-critical driving event by 23.2 times; and

WHEREAS, 10% of fatal crashes and 17% of injury crashes in 2011 were reported as distraction-affected crashes; and

WHEREAS, according to theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the percentage of driver's visibly manipulating hand-held devices while driving increased by 44% between 2010 and 2011; and

WHEREAS, April 2014 has been designated as National Distracted Driving Awareness and Enforcement Month.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 147^th General Assembly of the State of Delaware that April 2014 is recognized as Distracted Driving Awareness and Enforcement Month.

SYNOPSIS

This resolution recognizes April 2014 as Distracted Driving Awareness and Enforcement Month.