Oprah Winfrey campaigns to make cars a ‘no phone zone’

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey has launched a campaign to designate Friday as a “No Phone Zone Day” in cars, joining a chorus of private and public transportation safety groups in vowing not to text or make calls while driving.

Winfrey has asked people in the April 30 episode of her show to sign an online “no phone zone” pledge – a promise not to text text while driving, not text and use hands-free calling, or not text or make calls while driving. The campaign had gathered almost 250,000 signatures by late Friday.

“A call or text isn’t worth taking a life,” Winfrey said in a statement. “We must not allow more mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers to die before we take action against distracted driving.”

Texting while driving increases the risk of a crash by 20 times, a report from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute concluded in 2009. California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington have banned all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Meanwhile, 24 states have laws banning text messaging for all drivers.