driven to distraction?
I ADMIT IT FREELY. I AM GUILTY. GUILTY AS CHARGED. BUT
I am in recovery. I just wish it were easier. As the pace of life and
business continues to ramp up, we’re all striving to do more with
less. That’s led to an explosion in the use of technologies that
promise greater efficiency, higher productivity, and (we would
hope) greater success by enabling us to stay constantly connected
to the world around us. It’s easy to forget that all that connectivity
sometimes comes at the price of personal and public safety.
Yes, we are talking about texting and driving. In a day and age
when 24/7 availability and immediate responses seem to be expected, a lot of us are feeling the pressure to stay on top of things. Being
in a car (or truck) a few hours no longer seems like an acceptable
excuse for being out of touch.
Ray LaHood begs to disagree. LaHood, who
is secretary of the U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT), has made no bones
about his concerns about the dangers of distracted driving. In late January, his agency
took steps to address the problem when it
banned texting while driving by operators of
commercial vehicles like large trucks and
buses. And the agency put some teeth in its
threat. Truck and bus drivers who text while
operating commercial vehicles may be fined as
much as $2,750, the DOT said.
LaHood’s anti-texting crusade may not be
over yet. It now appears that he has set his
sights on banning the practice of texting while
driving altogether.
As Senior Editor Mark Solomon recently reported, LaHood
tipped his hand while speaking at a high-powered transportation
and infrastructure conference on March 12 in Washington, D.C.
(to read the full story, go to www.dcvelocity.com/arti-
cles/20100314_lahood_ready_push_text_ban_all_motorists/). In
his address, LaHood said he was prepared to go on a “rampage”
against what he called the epidemic of distracted driving. And
although he didn’t come right out and say it, he gave the distinct
impression that he’s on the verge of pushing to extend the texting
ban to include all motorists.
Certainly, LaHood’s remarks left little doubt about his views on
the subject. Drivers should resist the urge to use cell phones at all
while operating a vehicle, he told his audience. If you have to read
or reply to a text message, he said, pull over first. He also suggest-
ed that drivers put their cell phones in the glove compartment
while driving to avoid both the temptation and
the distraction.
