Talk show Oprah Winfrey urged viewers to make their car “zone of non-phone” for several weeks now, and it has partnered with security agencies of transportation to set Friday as a “No Phone Zone day.” Winfrey is asking people to sign a “no phone zone” on its Web site promises, a promise not to text while driving, do not use hands-free texts and calls, or do not text or make calls while driving. On Friday morning, Winfrey has received 228,076 signatures, including many high-level celebrities who have appeared on his show. ”Call or text does not deserve to take life,” Winfrey said in a statement. “We must not let more mothers and fathers, son and daughters, brothers and sisters to die before taking action against distracted driving. Let us now, gathering April 30 for the national “No Phone Zone Day ‘, and making our cars the answer” No Phone Zone. “ Winfrey has the support of the Ministry of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Organizations for Youth Safety, FocusDriven, Students Against Destructive Decision (Sadd), and Radd, the voice of the entertainment industry for road safety . ”I succeeded in my mission to stop impaired driving DOT,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “We know if we can get people to keep cell phones and other electronic devices while driving, we can save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries each year.” Winfrey Show Friday will be devoted to the security of the phone. It also has a variety of resources texting while driving on its website. According to data from the Association of Governors Highway Safety, 23 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and have laws that ban texting while driving. Eight states have partial bans texting while driving, which is especially true for novice drivers or school bus drivers who have children under their vehicle. There are a number of studies published in the last year to study the influence of SMS driver’s reaction time. A July 2009 Report of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that texting while driving increases the risk of accidents by 20 times. At a December 2009 study by the University of Utah found similar results. The researchers said that the practice significantly increases the risk of accidents than talking on the phone or simply reading text messages while driving. About 26 percent of American teens admit texting while driving, while 48 percent said they had seen a friend do the same thing, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In October, Obama has banned texting while driving for government workers. That same week, Secretary LaHood said that DOT would: prohibit the use of cell phones and other electronics in railway operations, text message ban entirely and restrict cellphone use by drivers of trucks and bus between the operators and disqualify the convicted from the school bus driver texting while driving to keep the commercial driver’s license. Distracted driving, including texting while driving, killing nearly 6,000 people in 2008, LaHood told Congress last year. More than half a million people have been injured by a distracted driver. The Congress is also considering this issue, debating whether to be more effective to punish texters conduct or pay compensation for those who practice oppression and appearing to fight against driving impaired in the 1980s.

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