Ann Kirkpatrick: “I thank Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member DeFazio, Subcommittee Chair Graves, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Holmes…”

“I thank Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member DeFazio, Subcommittee Chair Graves, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Holmes Norton for accepting my amendment on distracted driving. Madam Chair, texting is an extremely dangerous activity as it requires drivers to take their eyes, hands, and minds off the task of driving. Drivers aged 16 to 24 have the highest propensity to text while driving. Cell phone conversations with handheld or hands-free devices are dangerous as well, especially for young, novice drivers. A Carnegie Mellon University study of MRIs shows that the area of the brain responsible for processing moving visual information, a vital part of driving, has 37 percent less capacity when talking on the phone. A driver texting may miss seeing up to 50 percent of his or her driving environment, even when looking through the windshield. This includes stop signs, pedestrians, and red lights, according to the University of Utah Applied Cognition Laboratory. This simple, commonsense amendment ensures that States that have enacted texting and teen cell phone bans qualify for incentive grant funding. This amendment will also allow additional States to qualify for distracted driving incentive grant funding while maintaining the core safety requirement of the grant. The amendment has the support of AAA, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Governors Highway Safety Association, MADD, the National Safety Council, and Safe Kids Worldwide.…”