LaHood: Distracted driving a ‘menace to society’
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called distracted driving a “menace to society” Wednesday, kicking off a two-day meeting on preventing drivers from using mobile devices behind the wheel.
The Obama administration reported that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, including drivers talking on cell phones and texting.
“To put it plainly, distracted driving is a menace to society,” LaHood told more than 300 participants at the government’s ‘distracted driving summit.’ “Distracted driving is an epidemic and it seems to be getting worse every year.”
The Transportation Department brought together experts to take a hard look at the highway hazards caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting from behind the wheel. LaHood said he would offer recommendations Thursday that could lead to new restrictions on using the devices while driving.
Congress is watching closely. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who will address the gathering, and other Democrats introduced legislation in July that would require states to ban texting or e-mailing while operating a moving vehicle or lose 25 percent of their annual federal highway funding. The Obama administration has not taken a position on the bill.
Prior to the meeting, LaHood said the administration would “work with Congress” to develop ways of curbing distracted driving. Ultimately, LaHood said, he wanted the meeting to set “the stage for finding ways to eliminate texting while driving.”
Previous efforts to reduce drunken driving and encourage motorists to wear seat belts taught the government a “valuable lesson,” LaHood said. “We need a combination of strong laws, tough enforcement and ongoing public education to make a difference.”
Transportation officials said in a research report that 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 were injured last year in crashes where at least one form of driver distraction was reported. Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008.
LaHood said on any given day last year, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone during the day.
The panel of government officials, safety advocates, researchers and lawmakers discussed ways of developing a consensus on the roadway hazards. Speakers showed images of pulverized sport utility vehicles and sawed off commercial buses that had been driven by people using mobile devices before the crash.
Others noted the problem wasn’t limited to cars and cited a commuter train engineer in Chatsworth, Calif., who texted a friend and failed to stop at a red signal. Twenty-five people were killed in the September 2008 passenger rail crash.
One participant asked whether using a handsfree device was safer than a handheld phone. A researcher cautioned that handsfree devices could still cause distractions if the driver needed to dial the phone or handle the device.
“I think it’s important that we recognize that handsfree is not risk free,” said Dr. John Lee, a University of Wisconsin researcher.
A group of young adults who caused car accidents because they were texting while driving also attended the conference.
The new data showed the greatest proportion of distracted drivers were those age 20 and under. Sixteen percent of all under-20 drivers involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving, the government said.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making texting while driving illegal and seven states and the District have banned driving while talking on a handheld cell phone, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Many safety groups have urged a nationwide ban on texting and on using handheld mobile devices while behind the wheel.
In July, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that when drivers of heavy trucks texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater. Dialing a cell phone and using or reaching for an electronic device increased risk of collision about six times in cars and trucks.
The Virginia Tech researchers found the risks of texting generally applied to all drivers, not just truckers. A separate report by Car and Driver magazine found that texting and driving is more dangerous than drunken driving.
On the Net:
Distracted Driving Summit: tinyurl.com/ncozgx
State laws on cell phones, driving: tinyurl.com/5k5bwy
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October 1st, 2009 at 4:23 pm
80% percent of all rear end collisions (the most frequent vehicle accident) are caused by driver inattention, following too closely, external distraction (talking on cell phones, shaving, applying makeup, fiddling with the radio or CD player, kids, texting, etc.) and poor judgement.
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