Early critics were amazed to find DOT chief Ray LaHood campaigning, fiercely, against drivers' use of distracting electronic devices such as cell phones. He took it as a compliment. "Am I on a rampage?" LaHood said in the early years of his term. "Yes, I am, and why shouldn't I be?" Politicians and bureaucrats don't talk that way, but LaHood did. He cited a rising national death toll as drivers increasingly talked & texted their way down our streets and highways. Who can say how many lives (many of them young) were saved as LaHood used the DOT's bully pulpit in his campaign against … [Read more...]
Comedy of errors in Arizona’s House
March 5, 2012 by 3 Comments
Long resistant to distracted driving laws, Arizona's House appeared to have a sudden change of heart. Representatives approved a statewide ban on text messaging while driving. For a few minutes, anyway. An outbreak of common sense? An awakening to the deadly toll of electronic distracted driving? Hardly. Turns out the reps were just doing their Keystone Cops imitation. A swarm of legislators weren't paying attention days earlier when Rep. Steve Urie added his texting ban language to HB 2125, an unrelated bill concerning accident reporting. After approving the texting/accident reporting … [Read more...]
The wrath of LaHood: a good honking
February 28, 2012 by 5 Comments
DOT chief Ray LaHood must be able to summon the hounds of hell when he encounters cell phoning drivers breaking the law in Washington, D.C., right? Nah. "What I've been doing is kind of honking at somebody if I see him on a cellphone," LaHood told WROP radio the other day. He calls drivers who use cell phones or text "my biggest source of irritation." LaHood told the radio station it was his way of "taking personal responsibility" in the war against electronic distracted driving. Never mind that vehicle horns should be reserved for alerting others to roadway danger, not telling off fellow … [Read more...]
Stick shifts slowing distracted teens
January 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Stick shifts aren't extinct -- it just seems that way -- and concerns over teen safety may be helping the manual transmission systems make a mini-comeback. A Northern California TV station reports that some area parents are buying their teenagers vehicles with stick shifts in order to keep the kids' hands off cell phones. Sacramento News10 interviewed a 17-year-old who says that while many of her friends text and drive, "With a stick shift, I can't really check my phone," she said. Her parents bought her a Honda Civic. Stick shifts have largely disappeared in the U.S., with about 5.5 … [Read more...]
‘It’s time’: Ban all cell phone use by drivers
December 15, 2011 by 11 Comments
Someone had to go first. The National Transportation Safety Board just jumped through the burning hoop, and the national debate over electronic distracted driving abruptly shifted to discussion of a complete ban on cell phones and similar devices. About time. Proponents and foes of laws against distracted driving agree, oddly enough, that the watery prohibitions being dispensed by many states are of little use and make little sense. The legislative "compromise" of saddling distracted driving laws with secondary enforcement is a joke. What if speeding tickets were only handed out if drivers … [Read more...]
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