• 20
  • October
    2011

Early in the morning of March 26, 2010, a van packed with 12 people was traversing Interstate 65 through the Kentucky countryside, en route to a wedding in Iowa.

At the same time, traveling in the opposite direction down Interstate 65, and working on about four hours of sleep, a truck driver was making a phone call - a call that would last only one second.

When the call was made, the truck broke through the cable barrier lining the median, crossed the median and drove head-on into the van. The devastating truck accident took the lives of ten of the van's passengers and the truck driver.

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation of the accident found that the truck driver had made or received four phone calls in the 25 minutes preceding the tragic accident, and it was found that the truck driver's cell phone received six calls in the 16 minutes immediately after the accident.

Following the investigation, the NTSB recommended that commercial truck and bus drivers be banned from using cell phones while driving, except in emergency situations. The NTSB's recommended ban also includes banning commercial drivers from using cell phones with hands-free technology.

The NTSB is only in a position to offer recommendations to other governmental agencies and states, as the NTSB does not have the authority to implement a ban on cell phones. If accepted, the NTSBS recommendation would expand on bans that commercial drivers already adhere to (texting ban) or face (the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a ban on hand-held cell phone for commercial drivers).