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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 19, 2018 11:15 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Brett R. Miller |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution designating April 27, 2018 as Don’t Text and Drive Day in Pennsylvania |
| In the near future, I plan to re-introduce a resolution to designate April 27, 2018 as Don’t Text and Drive Day in Pennsylvania. Texting, as a means of communication, is nearly universal and has become completely intertwined with our daily lives. While a useful method of communicating, many people continue to text even while they are driving. This has resulted in far too many accidents, injuries, and deaths due to motorists being distracted while driving. Tragically, the number of these tragic incidents only continues to grow. Research has clearly shown that texting while driving dramatically increases the risk of crashes. In fact, the latest available data indicates that 6 percent of all car crashes, or 341,000 out of 1.2 million nationwide, were the result of the operator being distracted due to texting while driving. And, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s PA Crash Facts & Statistics booklet, between the years 2012 and 2016 a total of 73,810 crashes in Pennsylvania alone involved distracted driving, 283 of those crashes resulting in fatalities. Many of these accidents were related to texting and driving. Since texting while driving is occurring so frequently, it poses a significant risk to drivers, passengers and all individuals sharing the roadways in Pennsylvania. The General Assembly has passed several pieces of legislation in an attempt to prevent people from texting while driving. While these attempts have been helpful, we must do more. As was the case last year, designating April 27, 2018 as Don't Text and Drive Day in Pennsylvania is an appeal to individuals, government agencies, business leaders, hospitals, schools and public and private institutions within this Commonwealth to promote awareness of the dangers of texting and driving and calls for continued programs and policies that reduce the incidence of texting while driving in this Commonwealth in order to reduce the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities on our roadways. Please join me in designating April 27, 2018 as Don’t Text and Drive Day in Pennsylvania as we continue in our efforts to reduce the number of preventable accidents by making our roadways safer. |
Introduced as HR763