AIA STATEMENT ON NTSB’S RECOMMENDATION TO BAN USE OF PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES WHILE DRIVING
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 13, 2011 – Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association (AIA) issued a statement today in response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendation for a nationwide ban on the non-emergency use of personal electronic devices (PEDs), including cell phones and text messaging devices, while driving. The NTSB’s safety recommendation calls for all 50 states and the District of Columbia to pass legislation which will effectively ban the non-emergency use of PEDs by motorists while driving.
Ms. Pusey’s statement follows:
“The American Insurance Association (AIA) supports the NTSB’s recommendation to ban non-emergency use of personal electronic devices while driving. When you consider that driving is the most dangerous daily activity for the typical American, few issues are more important than our actions behind the wheel.
“Distracted driving, which is blamed for more than 3,000 deaths last year alone, and specifically texting while driving, has become a major epidemic in our country. Recent studies have equated driving while texting to driving while severely impaired by alcohol, or worse.
“While we have made great strides in highway safety, more must be done. This crisis is the newest challenge to the safety of everyone sharing our roads and highways. The insurance industry has a long-standing commitment to auto and driver safety and AIA looks forward to supporting this initiative.”