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Safety panel calls on government to ban cellphones from drivers
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A key safety panel called today for governments to ban all uses of cellphones and Internet devices by drivers in vehicles — a step far beyond what vehicle owners and automakers have been willing to take so far. Would making iPhones illegal behind the wheel make the roads safer?
While auto safety officials have targeted driver distraction as a major threat for years, most drivers still use phones while driving, a majority don't think it's a safety problem and many report texting or answering emails from behind the wheel. And some safety experts question the effort too, nothing that as cellphone use by drivers has exploded, traffic deaths have fallen to their lowest level since 1949.
The announcement by the National Transportation Safety Board follows its probe into a Missouri crash last year where a 19-year-old pickup truck driver texting behind the wheel trigged a crash with two school buses that killed him and a 15-year-old child on the bus, leaving 38 other children and adults injured.
The NTSB's recommendation calls on every state to ban all use of cellphones or other Internet devices by drivers, whether handheld or via hands-free devices like Bluetooth connections or the in-dash systems like Ford's MyFordTouch that have become standard equipment in many new vehicles. It also recommended that states step up enforcement of such laws to "high visibility" levels.
The only exception NTSB would allow for dialing and driving would be in emergencies.
"It is past time to face the facts that no one can drive safely when driving is not their focus," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "It's time to curb the carnage on our roads from distraction-related accidents."
