Federal Summit Eyes Crackdown On Texting While Driving

suraj.sun sends along this quote from an Associated Press report: "Opening a government meeting on auto safety, the Obama administration reported Wednesday that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of using mobile devices behind the wheel. The Transportation Department was bringing together experts over two days for what it's calling a 'distracted driving summit' to take a hard look at the highway hazards caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting from behind the wheel. ... Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making texting while driving illegal and seven states and the district have banned driving while talking on a handheld cell phone, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Many safety groups have urged a nationwide ban on texting and on using handheld mobile devices while behind the wheel."

Comments

Stupidity...overwhelming

[ZekoMal]

If you're stupid enough to look at the massive scrap of metal around you, zipping around at 50 miles per hour with hundreds of other massive scraps of metal around your scrap of metal at any given time and decide to put even a scrap of your attention elsewhere, you need to be castrated.

You never need to use the phone while driving. You can pull your ass over to answer the phone, it's not that hard to take an extra 5 minutes to get to your destination. You never need to text while driving. Anyone saying otherwise is arguing semantics. Name one instant where you need to answer the phone while driving without pulling off somewhere and stopping your car that does not involve a Hollywood action movie.