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US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study
By now you've probably seen the NY Times's long piece on distracted driving — about how most drivers and most legislators willfully ignore the evidence of the dangers of talking on a cellphone, texting, and other electronic distractions while behind the wheel. According to this article, cellphone use while driving causes over 1,000 fatalities a year in the US. Another shoe has now dropped: it seems that the US National Highway Safety Administration blocked a proposed definitive study of the risks. The NHSA now cites concerns about angering Congress. Two consumer safety groups had filed a FOIA request for documents about the aborted study, and the Times has now made the documents public — including the research behind the request for a study of 10,000 drivers.
Don't dial the number! Just press and hold the menu button and say "Call Mom".
(voicedial works great with the iPhone 3gs)
How about driving while sleepy? Why not close off all the roads after 11pm? How about driving with an IQ under 100? Why allow people to drive at all if it's so damn dangerous? How about if you want to live in a nanny state, you move to a country like China or Ireland.
Plenty of people can drive just fine while talking on a cellphone, and often times it boosts productivity. In the USA we have a solid drivers license system, and if people suck at driving, they get their licenses taken away. Maybe law makers should focus on using that system to more effectively discourage reckless drivers, as opposed to extrapolating statistical quirks in a weak attempt to hinder those that might be reckless drivers in the future.