Some four million truckers are affected by the new rule, which goes into effect on Jan. 3. For regular passenger-car drivers, nine states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have ">banned the use of handheld phones while driving, and 35 states have banned texting while driving. Many states ban minors from using cell phones while they are behind the wheel.

In addition to the distracted-driving ban, the NTSB calls for a federal regulation that would require commercial carriers to install video monitors in trucks to record the inside and outside of the vehicle. The information would aid accident investigations and promote safety, the report says. Contractors would be less likely to support this specific provision, says Deery, citing liability concerns.

Orange Cones, No Phones

Legislation isn’t the only tool to get people to stop using cell phones while driving—a shift in culture can be effective, too, says Jeff Wagner, who is in charge of public affairs for Fluor and Transurban’s 14 miles of improvements on Interstate 495, the so-called Beltway outside of Washington D.C.

The companies started “Orange Cones—No Phones,” a campaign that encourages drivers to hang up their phones when in a construction zone.

In addition to signs and public outreach, more than 100 companies have signed pledges to encourage their employees to hang up their phones in a construction zone. Fluor itself took the pledge and asks its workers to keep off the phone while in a work zone.

More than 200,000 drivers travel a section under construction, and conditions in the zone change on a daily basis, says Wagner.

“People need to be very alert and paying attention,” Wagner says. Distractions could harm the drivers and the 2,000 workers on the project. “When you are in a construction zone, just hang up your phone," he says.

The campaign seems to be working: A third fewer drivers on the Beltway used handheld cell phones in 2011 compared with in 2010, according to a survey by Transurban-Fluor and AAA Mid-Atlantic. Sixty-four precent of those surveyed said they have changed their texting or calling habits while in a construction zone.

“While legislation certainly puts teeth behind things, it has to be a culture change,” says Wagner.