NTSB wants to ban mobile phone and electronics use in cars across the country [UPDATE]
In August of last year, a 19-year-old pickup driver received 11 texts in as many minutes while traveling down a Missouri highway outside Gray Summit. The truck rear-ended a stopped tractor trailer at speed, which was then struck by not one, but two school buses, resulting in a massive, multi-car pileup that left 38 people injured and two dead – including the serial texter and a 15-year-old student riding in one of the buses.
The crash made national news and gained even more press after the driver's phone records were released. Today, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending a nationwide ban on using a mobile phone while driving.
The key word there is "recommending." The NTSB doesn't have the power to enact legislation; it can only persuade lawmakers to pass a bill making it illegal for the driver to operate a mobile phone unless it's an emergency. But the NTSB is taking it a step further. The government group doesn't want drivers to use any electronic or Internet-connected device in the car, and that could include some of the newest 'Net-enabled infotainment systems embedded into vehicles. Further, the proposed ban means even using a Bluetooth headset to take calls could be illegal.
Currently, mobile phone bans are enacted by states, with nine states and the District of Columbia prohibiting their use while behind the wheel, and 35 states banning texting while driving. Those figures doesn't include the other states that ban novice or bus drivers from using a mobile phone while driving.
The NTSB's hearing was held earlier today, but the official text of the recommendation has yet to be released. We'll update this post accordingly when the NTSB offers us more than its initial findings and a tweet.
UPDATE: The text of the NTSB's recommendation is available after the jump, and as suspected, it's a sweeping suggestion for all States and the District of Columbia to not only ban mobile phone use, but any electronic device while driving.
No call, no text, no update behind the wheel: NTSB calls for nationwide ban on PEDs while driving
Following today's Board meeting on the 2010 multi-vehicle highway accident in Gray Summit, Missouri, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called for the first-ever nationwide ban on driver use of personal electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle.
The safety recommendation specifically calls for the 50 states and the District of Columbia to ban the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (other than those designed to support the driving task) for all drivers. The safety recommendation also urges use of the NHTSA model of high-visibility enforcement to support these bans and implementation of targeted communication campaigns to inform motorists of the new law and heightened enforcement.
"According to NHTSA, more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents", said Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving."
"No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life."
On August 5, 2010, on a section of Interstate 44 in Gray Summit, Missouri, a pickup truck ran into the back of a truck-tractor that had slowed due to an active construction zone. The pickup truck, in turn, was struck from behind by a school bus. That school bus was then hit by a second school bus that had been following. As a result, two people died and 38 others were injured.
The NTSB's investigation revealed that the pickup driver sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes preceding the accident. The last text was received moments before the pickup struck the truck-tractor.
The Missouri accident is the most recent distraction accident the NTSB has investigated. However, the first investigation involving distraction from a wireless electronic device occurred in 2002, when a novice driver, distracted by a conversation on her cell phone, veered off the roadway in Largo, Maryland, crossed the median, flipped the car over, and killed five people.
Since then, the NTSB has seen the deadliness of distraction across all modes of transportation.
In 2004, an experienced motorcoach driver, distracted on his hands-free cell phone, failed to move to the center lane and struck the underside of an arched stone bridge on the George Washington Parkway in Alexandria, Virginia. Eleven of the 27 high school students were injured;
In the 2008 collision of a commuter train with a freight train in Chatsworth, California, the commuter train engineer, who had a history of using his cell phone for personal communications while on duty, ran a red signal while texting. That train collided head on with a freight train - killing 25 and injuring dozens;
In 2009, two airline pilots were out of radio communication with air traffic control for more than an hour because they were distracted by their personal laptops. They overflew their destination by more than 100 miles, only realizing their error when a flight attendant inquired about preparing for arrival.
In Philadelphia in 2010, a barge being towed by a tugboat ran over an amphibious "duck" boat in the Delaware River, killing two Hungarian tourists. The tugboat mate failed to maintain a proper lookout due to repeated use of a cell-phone and laptop computer;
In 2010, near Munfordville, Kentucky, a truck-tractor in combination with a 53-foot-long trailer, left its lane, crossed the median and collided with a 15-passenger van. The truck driver failed to maintain control of his vehicle because he was distracted by use of his cell-phone. The accident resulted in 11 fatalities
In the last two decades, there has been exponential growth in the use of cell-phone and personal electronic devices. Globally, there are 5.3 billion mobile phone subscribers or 77 percent of the world population. In the United States, that percentage is even higher - it exceeds 100 percent.
Further, a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study of commercial drivers found that a safety-critical event is 163 times more likely if a driver is texting, e-mailing, or accessing the Internet.
"The data is clear; the time to act is now. How many more lives will be lost before we, as a society, change our attitudes about the deadliness of distractions?" Hersman said.
A synopsis of the NTSB report, including the probable cause, findings, and a complete list of the safety recommendations, will be available online after the meeting. (from autoblog)
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