SENATE MEMORIAL 23

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Lynda M. Lovejoy

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO GATHER DATA ON, STUDY AND IDENTIFY THE CONSEQUENCES OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING AND TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY.

     WHEREAS, distracted driving is driving that occurs while a person is engaged in any non-driving activity that has the potential to distract the person from the primary task of driving; and

     WHEREAS, there are three basic types of distractions: visual, or taking one's eyes off the road; manual, or taking one's hands off the wheel; and cognitive, or taking one's mind off what one is doing; and

     WHEREAS, texting while driving is a particularly dangerous form of distracted driving as it involves all three types of distractions at the same time; and

     WHEREAS, according to the national highway traffic safety administration, in 2008, driver distraction was the cause of five thousand eight hundred fatal crashes and five hundred fifteen thousand crashes resulting in injury; and

     WHEREAS, according to the American automobile association, nearly fifty percent of teenagers admit to texting while driving; and

     WHEREAS, the university of north Texas health science center has analyzed traffic data from the fatality accident reporting system and texting data from the federal communications commission and from CTIA, the wireless association, and has concluded that texting while driving claimed the lives of sixteen thousand one hundred forty-one people during the period from 2001 to 2007; and

     WHEREAS, although there is no federal ban on texting while driving, thirty states, the District of Columbia and Guam ban texting while driving for all drivers, with eleven of those states having enacted legislation in 2010; and

     WHEREAS, an additional eight states prohibit texting while driving for novice drivers, and two states restrict school bus drivers from texting while driving; and

     WHEREAS, texting while driving presents a potentially serious and deadly danger to society;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of transportation be requested to gather data on, study and identify the consequences of texting while driving; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of transportation present recommendations based on the findings of the study to the appropriate interim committee by October 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of transportation.

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