Senator Shirley Breeden

August 6, 2009

Recently, there have been many reports in the news on the dangers of texting while driving. Three new university studies, two from Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute and one from the University of Utah, show that texting while driving is much more dangerous than talking on a cell phone while driving.

As your State Senator and a mother of three and grandmother of three, I find these statistics especially startling. This is why I introduced Senate Bill 136 in the 2009 session of the Nevada Legislature. This legislation would have prohibited a person from using their cell phone to write or read electronic messages while driving.

The facts provided from these new studies only help to prove why more states are passing legislation that bans texting while driving:

·      The Virginia Tech study found that drivers sending a text message are 23 times more likely to cause an accident.

·      The University of Utah found drivers reading or sending a text message were 8 times as likely to cause an accident, which is twice as high as a person talking on a cell phone.

·      In one of the Virginia Tech studies, truck drivers were videotaped while driving and sending text messages. The videos showed that the drivers spent an average of five seconds looking at their cell phones before a crash or near crash.

·      Eighty percent of all crashes are caused by driver inattention.

Although this legislation to ban text messaging while driving did not pass in the 2009 session, I remain committed to doing all I can to protect my constituents. As your state senator, I am committed to keeping our families safe when on the road, and these new statistics show how important this goal is. Join me in this important conversation- I want to hear from you. Please visit my website at www.breedenfornevada.com or contact me directly at (702) 307-9008.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

All my best,

Shirley Breeden

Clark County Senate District 5