The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a final rule today that prohibits interstate commercial drivers, including some school bus drivers who work for private contractors, from using cell phones or other wireless communication devices while behind the wheel.

The docket in the federal register states the rule goes into effect on Oct. 27, 2010, and especially targets texting, a practice that has increased by 2,200 percent over the last five years among cell phone customers. School buses engaged in regular route, home-to-school transportation are exempted from the rule, but private bus companies that provide interstate charter service for schools are bound by the regulation. Drivers are also banned from texting via two-way radios and other communication devices used for fleet management, but FMCSA added that "other functions" for purposes other than texting are exempt.

FMCSA will also amend its commercial driver’s license regulations to add cell phones to the list of disqualifying offenses a state or local conviction. In addition to losing their CDL, drivers convicted of operating cell phones behind the wheel face up to $2,750 in fines. Meanwhile, motor carrier companies can be fined up to $11,000 and are directed in the final rule to develop internal policies and programs to ensure drivers do not engage in this activity.

Charlie Hood, president of NASDPTS, wrote members this morning that the organization of state directors of pupil transportation services believe the new rule "will reinforce existing training, laws, and compliance in the important area of prohibiting distracted driving." In August of 2009, NASDPTS also sent a letter of support for the ALERT Drivers Act, Senate Bill 1536, that would require all states to prohibit all drivers from texting. Currently 18 states ban school bus drivers from texting or using cell phones, and many school districts nationwide have their own regulations.

According to FMCSA, drivers who text are 23 times more likely to crash, cause a near collision or deviate from their lane. While the U.S. Department of Transportation said it does not yet have data on the prevalence of commercial drivers who text while behind the wheel, it added that the "exponentially increasing use of electronic devices, numerous crashes and other incidents related to distracted driving in recent years" called for federal action.

The final rule cites several studies performed over the past couple of years that aim to highlight the safety risks of distracted driving and especially texting. One of those was performed by the company DriveCam for commercial bus and truck drivers. The recorded driver behavior study involving 8,509 buses and 4,797 trucks was presented this month during the second annual Distracted Driving Summit and suggested that, while truck and bus drivers do not text frequently, those who do are very likely to be involved in a safety-critical event.

The Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, or MCSAC, called on FMCSA to adopt new standards on distracted driving and texting in a March 27, 2009 report titled "Developing a National Agenda for Motor Carrier Safety." The final rule was first published as a notice of proposed rulemaking on April 1. More than 400 public responses were receive.