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OUR CHILDREN MUST BE OUR FIRST PRIORITY |
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Senator Shirley Breeden
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 
As the mother of three and grandmother of three, family is everything to me. I have spent my life ensuring that children were safe and healthy. As a bus dispatcher so long ago, I witnessed firsthand the importance of keeping Nevada’s roadways safe for our children and families. My legislation, SB 136, will do just that. This legislation will prohibit a person from using their cell phone to write, read, or send electronic messages while driving.
When you take the wheel of a car, I believe, you have a responsibility
to all other drivers and passengers with you to be a safe and focused
driver. You can’t live up to that responsibility while text messaging
at 50 mph on Interstate 15.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that nearly 80
percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of
driver inattention. In 2007, at least one person died and 143 people
suffered injuries in Nevada crashes where hand-held phones were
partially to blame. There were 179 reports of property damage from
cell-phone involved accidents. Accidents can occur at any
moment—whether stopped at a stop sign or driving on an interstate,
staying alert is essential to driving safely.
Our youth text message frequently when they should be focused on the
street. It has been estimated that 20 percent of people nationally
send or receive text messages while driving, and among young adults,
that number is three times as high.
We owe it to Nevada’s families to ensure the roads are safe for all of
us—especially our most precious cargo—our children. This legislation is
a positive step in protecting our streets and our families.
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