Distracted Driving a ‘Menace to Society’

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 folks 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 area 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 boost motorists to wear seat belts taught the government a “valuable lesson,” LaHood said. “We need a combination of strong laws, conditioned enforcement and ongoing public education to invent a difference.”

Transportation officials said in a research report that 5,870 public were killed and 515,000 were injured last year in crashes where at least one anatomy of driver distraction was reported. Driver distraction was involved…

[Source] dhiram