Text messaging ban effective December 1^st

AAA Colorado urges drivers to become distraction free

Denver, November 30 - On December 1, Colorado joins 18 states and the District of Columbia that have laws addressing text messaging while driving. Starting Tuesday, all Colorado drivers will be banned from texting while driving. Additionally, drivers under age 18 will be banned from all use of cell phones, including text messaging.

"With the new text messaging ban, everyone should rethink their driving behavior and take steps toward becoming distraction-free while behind the wheel," said Tony DeNovellis, AAA Colorado President. In many cases text messaging behind the wheel is a case of “do as I say, not as I do.” A recent nationwide survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found 95% of drivers said that texting while driving was unacceptable, but 18% of those same drivers admitted having read or sent a text message or email while driving in the past month. While over half (51.4%) of teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 report having texted while behind the wheel, all age groups admit to texting while driving. Text messaging while driving is a relatively new phenomenon and has been studied much less extensively than cell phone use while driving. However, studies suggest that this behavior is extremely dangerous. A study in which college students text messaged while operating a driving simulator found that text messaging increases crash risk by a multiple of eight.

To view tips on how to eliminate distractions and learn the facts about distracted driving, visit AAAFoundation.org

AAA Colorado has more than 530,000 members and is an advocate for safety and security for all travelers. As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides nearly 51 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services, as well as member-exclusive savings. AAA can be visited on the Internet at www.AAA.com