Are cars to blame for distracted driving?

— -- Automakers plan to testify today that smartphone and portable GPS makers should be included in new federal efforts to combat technology-related driver distraction.

Proposed federal guidelines for in-car technology, the subject of the Transportation Department hearing, require automakers to block drivers from plugging addresses into navigation systems or browsing the Web. But devices drivers bring into their cars aren't addressed.

"Is that tiny screened portable device with no industry driving safety guidelines irrelevant?" asks Tom Baloga, BMW vice president of engineering. No indeed, says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He says the guidelines are a continuation of his "drumbeat" against distracted driving, which has led to the passage of more than 25 state laws against texting since he took office.

"Our idea is that people should not be distracted by anything," LaHood said Friday.

Baloga and other auto industry spokesmen argue some drivers will turn to their mobile devices for information they can't get from their cars. For example, GPS devices that drivers can put anywhere they want could be used freely while driving, while built-in navigation systems would have strict limitations.

The federal proposal mirrors voluntary guidelines the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers drafted a decade ago. But Rob Strassburger, the Alliance's vehicle safety vice president, plans to tell regulators that mobile devices need to be addressed at the same time, rather than after the auto industry guidelines are final, as planned.

He says early efforts to involve the wireless industry in the industry distraction guidelines fizzled: "They hung around for a little while, and then they disappeared."

CTIA — The Wireless Association says it encourages its members to develop safe driving tools such ones to disable phones while driving.

Alliance members, which include all big automakers except Honda, agreed to abide by its guidelines, which call for dashboard tasks to need no more than 10 two-second glances. The federal proposal would cut that to six two-second glances and lock out navigation input and Web browsing.

David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' auto test center, calls the federal guidelines a "very good first move" and plans to urge the government to rate cars based on how distracting they are. The magazine has been concerned about overly complicated dashboard controls since the early 2000s, he says.

The Transportation Department will address mobile devices when it has the necessary data, LaHood spokesman Justin Nisly says.