DOT Bans Texting While Driving
Well, I had written a vast, long post about the texting ban, which can be found here. Then I went to a bad minor league hockey game, thought about it, and decided to edit my post.
It’s clear you can’t text on a cellphone in a truck. What is less clear is whether or not you can text on a Qualcomm device. The Federal Register and the new interpretation are written with weasel words, so it’s nearly impossible to tell what they mean. I would wager it will be nearly impossible to get them to put in writing that you are allowed to text on Qualcomm devices, but they probably won’t specifically say you can’t do it, either.
So, that’s all I have to say about that. The American Trucking Association seems to think you can still legally type on a Qualcomm unit while driving, so that’s fine with me. Now I have to get back to watching the State of the Union address to see how much more money Obama wants from me.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
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