Texting and Driving
93% of Americans surveyed say they want to see a nationwide ban on texting and driving, but the more important number is probably the 42% that said a ban would not stop people texting while driving. Who’s behind this push?
Schumer, Ford, and AAA
There is currently a lot of support out there for a nationwide ban. Charles Schumer – Liberal NY Senator, has the backing of Ford Motor Company and AAA, as he attempts to push a legislation banning texting while driving through the senate. Ford have just finished, what is government funded I’m sure, research on this topic and employed the services of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates to carry out the survey and report the findings. Ford also took the opportunity to plug the technology in their vehicles that allow owners to ‘stay connected’.
“A growing number of drivers are using handheld wireless communications and music-playing devices while driving,” said Dr. Louis Tijerina, Ford senior technical specialist. “Research clearly shows that manual operation of those devices that takes the driver’s eyes from the road for an extended period of time creates the kind of distraction that causes accidents.”
Distracted Driving Summit
These findings, and others, come a week before the Distracted Driving Summit in D.C., being hosted by the Department of Transport, and are being considered a ‘fact finding’ mission where relatives of the victims of text-ers will share their stories and companies will communicate stats and make such obvious statements as the quote above. I do not believe there were any invitations to non-victims or their families.
Via: blogs.automotive.com
