Industry News: DOT Unveils Their Blueprint For Ending Distracted Driving

[William Maley]

William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

June 8, 2012

Transportation secretary Ray LaHood has made it his mission to end distracted driving, calling it an “epidemic.” To help end it, LaHood and Department of Transportation has unveiled their Blueprint for Ending Distracted Driving. The blueprint calls for:

• Get the last eleven holdout states to pass laws banning distracted driving.
  
• Challenge the auto industry to not provide vehicle content that the government considers distracting.
  
• Educate young people about the perils of distracted driving.
  
• Continue a public education campaign that "Provides all stakeholders with actions they can take that go beyond personal responsibility to helping end distracted driving nationwide."
  

The government also announced pilot programs in California and Delaware to provide each with $2.4 million for increased law enforcement and to create a public campaign reminding drivers the dangers of distracted driving.

Source: Department of Transportation

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[loki]

how about just playing that farmers insurance commercial about distracted driving? lol

[David]

I agree that we need to end distracted driving, not really sure that having states pass laws is the right way to go versus a single law that all states should enforce.

Sad the video about the little girl who got killed on the dot web site.

I do wonder if this will really make a differance. Washington state has distraction driving law, texting law, cell conversation only with Blue tooth device, must be hands free.

Yet I see thousands a day as I ride the bus to and from work that are on their cell phones or worse, putting on makeup, shaving, eating a bowl of food. So just how does demanding states to pass laws change this behavior?

Seems a waste of time, If the FED's are to dictate rules, then dictate one law and move forward, not a series of cray state laws that are all different from one another.

[riviera74]

All traffic laws are state-by-state. If the USDOT had a model law for states to pass and implement, that would address the lack of uniform standards issue. Whatever happened to common sense anyways? Driving a car is a full-time job. No need to distract yourself with other things. If your email or texts are more important, take public transportation.

[ocnblu]

I'm sorry, what was that again?

[loki]

they blackmail states into the 21 yo drinking age.... obviously that works perfectly!!!! /s

[Drew Dowdell]

Those of you on the Sprint network should have noticed their contribution to this. Their network has been more than crap lately now that you aren't able to use Verizon towers anymore.