Obama bans texting while driving
An executive order forbidding federal employees to send or read messages while driving on the job is intended to attack the problem of distracted driving.
If you're a federal employee and drving somewhere on business, don't even think about sending or reading text messages. President Obama has put the full weight of his office behind an effort to ban the practice government-wide, in an executive order issued Oct. 1.
That means no messages to the boss to ask about your next meeting, and no messages to your wife to request meat loaf for dinner. Even if you really like meat loaf and are pretty sure she's planning baked fish again.
The order doesn't apply to contractors, but it does direct executive departments and agencies to encourage contractors to adopt similar rules.
Obama issued the order in conjunction with a Transportation Department summit on distracted driving. It includes no penalties, but gives agencies and departments 90 days to implement compliance measures. It does allow for some personnel to be exempt, for law enforcement or national security purposes.
We suggest baked fish three days in a row as punishment for a first offense.