WASHINGTON-The National Transportation Safety Board today recommended to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a stronger media campaign and educational effort be developed to curb distraction on the roadways caused by drivers who talk on their cell phones. The NHTSA would develop such a campaign in connection with the National Advertising Council.
In addition, the NTSB also recommended to NHTSA that state legislation be enacted to prohibit holders of learner’s permits and intermediate licenses from using mobile phones while driving. The NTSB also recommended that all states add driver distraction codes to traffic accident investigation forms.
The NTSB stopped short of recommending statewide bans on the operation of cell phones while driving, saying more research is needed to determine the impact of in-vehicle mobile-phone use compared with other driver distractions.
Today’s NTSB recommendations stem from a February 2002 auto accident that resulted in five fatalities. NTSB said cell-phone use by the driver and other factors contributed to the deadly accident.
New York and various localities now prohibit the use of handheld cell phones while driving. California is close to approving a similar prohibition.
Next week a case goes to trial in a Corpus Christi, Texas, court in which a man is charged with criminally negligent homicide in connection with a traffic accident that killed two people. The man was using his cell phone at the time of the accident.
