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DOT plans second distracted driving summit

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced the date for a second summit targeting distracted driving.

The summit is scheduled to take place Sept. 21 in Washington, DC. Topics are likely to include research, technology, policy, public outreach, and best practices in law enforcement, LaHood announced.

LaHood convened the first distracted driving summit in late September 2009, bringing together stakeholder groups and victims of distracted driving crashes to address what he called an epidemic among drivers.

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association leadership attended the first summit and there are plans to attend the second.

Since the first one took place, federal agencies and state governments have taken a variety of actions on the issue of distracted driving.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a new rule in early 2010 to make texting while driving a serious traffic violation for commercial drivers.

Soon afterward, LaHood issued regulatory guidance to declare that texting while driving was already illegal for commercial drivers under existing regs.

In April of this year, FMCSA officials set forth a timeline for rules to further “restrict” the use of cellular phones for commercial drivers. And in June, a high-ranking DOT official said stricter rules would soon be in the pipeline targeting other forms of distraction, including CBs.

Truckers generally favor texting bans and phone restrictions for drivers but want the rules to be fair.

OOIDA has filed comments to ask questions and air concerns on behalf of drivers. For example, many truckers use Web-based GPS applications on their hand-held phones and/or laptop computers, and would like to continue doing so rather than be forced to purchase a separate GPS unit. OOIDA also would like to see the use of dispatching devices such as Qualcomm clarified in the rule.

Two dozen states already have laws on the books banning or restricting hand-held phone use for drivers. More are expected to follow suit.

Nearly 6,000 people died and more than 500,000 were injured in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Additional details about the upcoming summit will be posted at www.distraction.gov/2010summit .

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