Then everyone can take the bus and talk on their cell phones... LOL
U.S. ban sought on cell phone use while driving
Drivers of any vehicle would be covered
* 3,000 U.S. fatalities from distracted driving last year
* Approach to compliance akin to anti-drunk driving campaign
By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban
talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of
vehicle on any road in the country.
Tough federal legislation is the only way to deal with what
he called a "national epidemic," he said at a distracted-driving
summit in San Antonio, Texas, that drew doctors, advocates and
government officials.
LaHood said it is important for the police to have "the
opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking
they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and drive."
LaHood has previously criticized behind-the-wheel use of
cell phones and other devices, but calling for a federal law
prohibiting the practice takes his effort to a new level.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates
that 3,000 fatal traffic accidents nationwide last year were the
result of distracted driving. Using a cell phone while driving
delays reaction time the same amount as having a blood alcohol
concentration of .08, the legal limit, the highway agency said.
But Gary Biller, president of the National Motorists
Association, said laws banning specific actions like talking on
a phone or texting are not necessary because those actions are
already covered by existing distracted-driving laws. It would be
more productive, he said, to invest resources in campaigns that
discourage inattentive driving in general.
"It shouldn't matter if the driver is distracted by a
conversation with another vehicle passenger, tuning the radio,
eating a snack, or talking on a cell phone," Biller said in a
statement. "Existing laws cover all those distractions and
more."
LaHood said, however, he was not as concerned about people
who eat, apply makeup, or perform other distracting activities
in cars because "not everyone does that."
"But everyone has a cell phone and too many of us think it
is OK to talk on our phones while we are driving," he said at
the summit, sponsored by insurance company USAA, the Texas
Department of Transportation and Shriners Hospitals for
Children.
LaHood was joined by people who have been hurt in accidents
caused by motorists talking on cell phones, including children
in wheelchairs who were paralyzed. Such accidents are "100
percent preventable," he said.
He compared the situation facing the United States today
with the problem of drunk driving 20-30 years ago.
"It used to be that if an officer pulled you over for drunk
driving, he would pat you on the back, maybe call you a cab or
take you home, but he wouldn't arrest you," LaHood said. "Now
that has changed, and the same enforcement can work for people
who talk on cell phones while driving."
Thirty-eight states have laws restricting or outlawing the
use of electronic devices while driving, LaHood said.
LaHood said his department was researching the effect that
hands-free devices and new systems like Ford Motor Company's
Sync have on distracting drivers. He said he has called the CEOs
of major car companies and encouraged them to "think twice"
before placing too many Internet-based systems into new cars.
(Editing By Corrie MacLaggan and Philip Barbara)
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