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Concerns raised about cell phone use while driving and state inspections of fuel pumps Date published: 7/27/2009
THERE WAS some stunning news last week about using a cell phone while driving. By filing a Freedom of Information Act request, consumer watchdog groups Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety obtained National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents about driving and cell phone use, a development reported by The New York Times. The documents are posted An NHTSA draft policy statement argued that phone use posed a threat to safety that surpassed the dangers from other driver distractions: "While drivers must recognize that all distractions can be dangerous, wireless communication devices are a particularly unique and troublesome since they involve cognitive distraction. Research has consistently demonstrated that diversion The document is clearly a draft, and contains grammatical errors. But it shows at least one employee at NHTSA believed that hands-free devices were not much of an improvement over hand-held ones, and that drivers should be warned against all use. I contacted the NHTSA for comment. The agency's public affairs staff referred me to the U.S. secretary of transportation. I wanted to know whether the agency would recommend not driving with cell phones--hands-free or hand-held. I got the following response from Olivia Alair, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman. "Safety is the number one priority for the Department of Transportation and Secretary LaHood is deeply concerned that drivers are taking their focus off the road to send text messages or use their cell phone. Distracted driving causes crashes and we want to stress that the best way to avoid accidents is for drivers to keep their eyes and their concentration on the road when they get behind the wheel," Alair wrote in an e-mail. Virginia has already banned text messaging on hand-held wireless devices by any driver operating a moving vehicle. Drivers under 18 are also not allowed to use a hand-held wireless device to make phone calls. But anyone in Virginia can still use hands-free wireless devices to place a call.
outlaw cell phone use for people who are "on duty" as they
drive?
If govt and private employees outlaw cell phone use while
employees are driving.. it could cause changes in the laws
also or vice versa.
15 minutes on local roads provides ample evidence that cell phones and driving are incompatible.
So that texting will technically be less dangerous than a legally defined drunk driver!
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