Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary, initiated an effort this week to strengthen the country's distracted driving laws and lower fatal car accidents involving distracted drivers. Not only is hand held phone use and texting at issue, so are new in-car communication and entertainment technologies that allow users to access the internet, check electronic maps, and allow front-passengers to watch DVD's. These issues were the focus of a Distracted Driving Summit in Washington on Tuesday.

Last year almost 5,500 people died during car crashes that involved distracted drivers and nearly 500,000 people were injured. While LaHood cited progress on the nation's campaign against texting behind the wheel, new in-cabin technology has come into view. LaHood believes that features that take the driver's hands off the wheel and eyes off the road are an absolute distraction. He wants the industry to put safety before entertainment and would like to meet with the industry to develop new safety guidelines that address the growing entertainment features.

Mercedes-Benz offers a dashboard screen that allows the front passenger to watch movies and the driver to check a map. BMW offers its customers a search engine used to check gas prices and stocks. Ford has a new system that incorporates social networking media like Twitter. The auto industry does not believe communication and entertainment features reduce safety and instead argue the features promote it. The industry believes that drivers are going to use technology in their vehicles regardless, and the use of in-car features with safeguards is better than allowing drivers to use handheld devices that lack safeguards.

There is not a lot of research on built-in technology features, but the auto industry is ready to cooperate in making their products safer. The federal government does not have the ability to regulate what items drivers carry with them as they drive, but it does have the ability to govern built-in features.

Source: Foxnews.com, "LaHood Takes Driver's Seat to Curb Dashboard 'Distractions'," Judson Berger, 9/22/10