VDHC
Vermont Democratic House Campaign
Highway Safety: Putting an End to Texting While Driving
In the State House on Tuesday morning, Speaker Shap Smith was joined by Matthew McKenzie, Vice President of Public Affairs at AAA Northern New England along with members of the House Judiciary and Transportation Committees to discuss the need to address highway safety and distracted driving with a comprehensive highway safety bill.
The Speaker called for a ban on texting while driving and talking while driving without a hands-free device. He further emphasized that those offenses as well as the seatbelt law should be primary offenses.
Democrats in the Vermont House realize that in addition to finding ways to get through these tough economic times, ensuring the safety of Vermonters is one of the most important responsibilities of the legislature.
"For Vermonters, highway safety is not a secondary issue, it's a primary issue," said Speaker Smith. "That is why we must make our current seatbelt laws as well as texting while driving and cell phone use without a hands free device primary offenses."
The House has been committed to saving lives on our roads by passing comprehensive highway safety legislation,” said Rep. Maxine Grad. “I continue to receive numerous emails and calls asking for a law addressing the use of cell phones. This is a public health risk we must address.”
“By taking these steps, we can save additional lives every year in Vermont,” said Rep. David Potter. “These habits of convenience create deadly distractions that put all Vermonters at risk.”
“Ninety-six percent of Vermont AAA members support a texting while driving ban,” said Matt McKenzie of AAA. “We’ve been traffic safety advocates for over 100 years, and we are striving to enact text messaging legislation in all states be 2013.”
The House has been a champion of highway safety, passing two comprehensive highway safety bills, H. 147 last year and one in the previous biennium.
Read a copy of the bill as introduced here.