NSWMA Supports National Ban on Texting While Driving

WASHINGTON--The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) today voiced support for legislation requiring states to pass laws banning text-messaging while operating a moving vehicle. NSWMA also expressed support for the summit announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation where transportation leaders, members of Congress and safety groups will come together to reduce accidents and fatalities caused by distracted driving. NSWMA represents the private solid waste recycling and disposal companies in the United States.

The bill – Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers (ALERT Drivers) Act – was prompted in part by studies by Virginia Tech and the University of Utah, which found that drivers were much more likely to crash if texting while driving, according to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), one of four sponsors of the legislation. These studies found that texting was more distracting to drivers than using a hand-held cellular telephone or being intoxicated.

“The solid waste industry fully stands behind the goals of this bill,” said Bruce J. Parker, president and CEO of NSWMA. “With a fleet of more than 130,000 trucks driving many miles each day to collect and manage America’s solid waste, road safety is of paramount concern to our industry. Making texting illegal while driving is a sensible idea that will help protect garbage men and the millions of other Americans who share the roads every day.”

Currently, texting while driving is banned in the District of Columbia and 14 states, including Alaska, California, Minneapolis, New Jersey and Virginia. Maryland’s ban takes effect Oct. 1. The New York legislature recently passed such a measure and sent it to the governor for a signature. This federal bill would require other states to write laws prohibiting text messaging by drivers or risk losing 25 percent of their annual federal highway money. States would have two years to enact such laws.

NSWMA and its members promote safety as a core value. America’s garbage and recycling collectors share very busy roads with increasingly distracted motorists. As a result, being struck by motorists is a substantial hazard for solid waste collection employees. NSWMA offers a variety of safety videos, training materials and programs to help reduce fatalities, injuries and accidents. NSWMA’s Slow Down to Get Around program is a public awareness effort to remind motorists to drive more carefully near solid waste and recycling vehicles, to reduce struck-by accidents.

To learn more about how you can help protect yourself and keep garbage men safe on our roads, visit http://www.environmentalistseveryday.org/safety.

NSWMA – a sub-association of the Environmental Industry Associations – represents for-profit companies in North America that provide solid, hazardous and medical waste collection, recycling and disposal services, and companies that provide professional and consulting services to the waste services industry. NSWMA members conduct business in all 50 states.