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Congresswoman Wilson Introduces "Drive to Stay Alive Act of 2011" - Anti-Texting-While-Driving Legislation

Wilson: “This is About One Thing: Saving Lives"

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-17) introduced H.R. 2575, “The Drive to Stay Alive Act of 2011” – an anti-texting-while-driving bill geared towards spurring Florida and other states to enact common-sense texting-while-driving laws to save lives and ensure road safety. The legislation requires the Secretary of Transportation to withhold five percent of all federal road funds from states that fail to pass adequate texting-while-driving regulations.

“This is about one thing: saving lives,” said Congresswoman Wilson. “Too many Americans die tragically and needlessly every year due to distracted drivers. This common-sense legislation will spur states to develop their own laws to ban texting-while driving so accidents like these never happen again.”

Here are some basic facts:

· The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported two years ago that distracted driving is the cause of 16% of all fatal crashes, with 5,800 people killed.

· Almost half a million people have been injured as a result of texting while driving.

· Half of all teenage drivers, some of the most inexperienced drivers on the road, admit to texting while driving

History shows that this type of legislation works. Since Congress required states to issue mandatory seat belt laws, seat belt usage has increased 85% over the past twenty years. The statistics are similar for laws outlawing driving under the influence of alcohol.

Congresswoman Wilson has a long track record on this issue, introducing anti-texting legislation as a member of the Florida State Legislature.

Currently, a total of thirty states have banned texting while driving and 8 have banned the use of handhelds behind the wheel. Florida is not among those states.

Rep. Frederica S. Wilson is a first-term congresswoman representing the 17^th District of Florida, including Northern Miami-Dade and Southeast Broward Counties. She is a former state legislator and school principal and the founder of the 5000 Role Models for Excellence Project, a mentoring program for young males at risk of dropping out of school.