Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaks about the Cash for Clunkers program at Department of Transportation headquarters Aug. 4, 2009, in Washington, D.C. He has since turned his attention to distracted driving.
(Win McNamee /Getty Images)
The two-day conference will examine the results of experimental research, collision studies and reporting across the industry to determine the effect of technology on transportation and how to remedy the problem of distracted driving.
"We need to raise public awareness that texting is a bad thing to do while you're driving, whether you're driving a school bus, a transit bus, a train or your own car," the transportation secretary said in an interview earlier this week with ABC News.
LaHood said if it were his decision, he would ensure that every electronic message sent while driving would be a crime.
"If I could wave a magic wand, I would eliminate it, but I don't have that magic wand, it would take a law," LaHood told ABCNews. "We actually have four U.S. senators speaking at our conference, our summit, in the next day-and-a-half, and that really begins the process for getting Congress on board to pass laws."
The question, then, is will the summit put pressure on states to step up enforcement of existing laws or perhaps implement tougher new laws? Auto safety experts say the science is clear: Talking on the phone, texting, anything that takes your attention from the road, is dangerous.
In many areas of highway safety, the best countermeasure is the law. The issue with cell phones and texting is having laws that carry a consequence for the driver and are enforceable. Enforcing a ban on hands-free devices is tricky, at best.
"Three years ago, NTSB recommended that DOT ban cell phone use in drivers. ... Nothing has been done; it's now time for DOT to take immediate action," said Jacqueline Gillan, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety during a news conference last week. "We shouldn't have to wait for more deaths and injuries on our roads."
A July study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers who text are 23 times more likely to crash than those who don't. Further evidence of distraction is highlighted in a Department of Transportation study that suggests one in four reported crashes show distraction was a factor in the accident.
"It's not possible to drive safely while you're texting," LaHood said. "It just simply is not because your attention is drawn away from driving a vehicle."
Recent studies have added fuel to the cause of safety advocates, last week spurring Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety to roll out a petition requesting the Department of Transportation regulate the use of electronic devices by commercial motor vehicle operators in the United States.
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