WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, challenged with increased use of mobile phones, navigation systems, the Internet and other technologies in vehicles, will hold meetings the next two months on digital distractions and how to curb dangers they pose to drivers.
The first forum on the Internet will be July 5-Aug. 11. A public meeting will be held July 18 at the Department of Transportation. In a related matter, the National Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Meeting will take place July 19-20.
The NHTSA conferences are expected to be attended by public, industry, government and safety representatives.
“NHTSA has been concerned about the potential safety impact of driver distraction from using advanced, in-vehicle technologies for a number of years,” stated the agency.
Indeed, since 1994, NHTSA has been investigating factors-such as mobile-phone calling-that undermine driver concentration. In 1998, a NHTSA study concluded mobile phones-while delivering benefits to society-also create distractions that lead to automobile collisions. Another study, published a few years ago by the New England Journal of Medicine, reported nearly identical findings.
Overall, NHTSA says driver inattention is either a primary or contributing factor in 50 percent of all crashes. As mobile-phone subscribership nears 100 million in the United States, driver safety will become even more of an issue for policy-makers.
Congress and the states are monitoring the issue.
Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) introduced legislation earlier this year to have Temple University’s Institute for Survey Research conduct a study on the impact of car phones on highway safety.
“The study would provide empirical data to provide the basis for sound public policy,”said Brady.
He added: “We need to know if the modern technological advances in electronics available to drivers are causing people to be maimed and killed on our highways, so that we can take the steps necessary to help save lives.”
In a related matter, a transportation bill sponsored by Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) would fund research and development of automatic crash notification systems using wireless technology and encourage the coordination and integration of emergency communications traffic control and management systems.
While a growing number of states have considered legislation to ban or restrict handheld mobile-phone use in cars, no statewide laws have been passed to that effect. However, towns in Ohio and Pennsylvania have enacted ordinances that forbid drivers from talking on handheld mobile phones while driving.
One case, which drew national attention and led to new curbs on mobile-phone use in autos, involved the death last November of two-and-a-half-year-old Morgan Lee Pena. Pena was killed in a collision caused by a man dialing his cell phone in Hilltown, Pa.
Earlier this year, an Air Force security officer smashed his cruiser into a $39 million fighter jet while attempting to grab his mobile phone. The wreck caused $62,000 of damage to the F-15.
The Pena tragedy and driver-safety problems generally have created policy challenges for regulators and a public-relations problem for the wireless industry.
On the one hand, the industry must be on constant guard for local and state legislation to curb mobile-phone use by drivers. Yet, in fighting to kill safety legislation, the wireless industry has to be careful not to create the impression that it is opposed to driver safety.
Negative publicity generated by unsafe drivers with cell phones tends to offset or, at least, diminish the public-safety benefits of mobile phones that are so highly touted by industry.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has a program to promote driver safety. The campaign was ratcheted up last month for Wireless Safety Week May 22-28. “The industry is committed to educating drivers about the responsible use of wireless phones,” said CTIA President Thomas Wheeler, in kicking off the Seven Days of Safety last month.
It has been suggested that hands-free technologies would go a long way to reduce the distractions of people who talk on phones while driving. But NHTSA says the problem is not as simple as that. The agency insists that a driver’s eyes as well as his/her mind must be on the road to ensure safety. Even a driver who uses a voice-activated mobile phone can lose concentration.
“Any devices which require drivers to look at displays and/or process information, or which require drivers to perform various tasks in order to operate controls of in-vehicle devices, will also distract them and thus increase their crash risk. Distraction occurs from looking away from the road and from being mentally distracted when attending to traffic,” NHTSA stated.
