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NTSB Urges Ban On Cell Phone Use While Driving; Florida Backer Not So Optimistic
December 14, 2011
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday urged states to ban cell phone use while driving, the first such call by a federal agency.
In Florida, bills that would prohibit kids under 18 from talking-while-driving are filed by a Senate Republican and a House Democrat, while another bill, carried Republicans in both chambers, would ban texting and driving.
But the House Democrat sponsoring the bill to ban kids under 18 from using cell phones while driving said Tuesday he wasn’t confident the NTSB recommendation would go very far to move along his proposal, which he fears will die in an unfriendly House committee.
“Unfortunately for the state of Florida, all these road safety bills are bottled up in a drawer,” said Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton.
Slosberg has in the past criticized the chairman of the House Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee, Rep. Brad Drake, R-Eucheeanna, suggesting that Drake wants to kill bills related to regulations on drivers.
And Slosberg did again in an interview on Tuesday.
“I guess they have to go very slowly, the only thing I can do is to have patience and bring the issue up over and over and one day they’ll just be tired from hearing it from me,” said Slosberg, who has made road safety his main issue in the Legislature. Slosberg’s daughter died in a car crash several years ago, and for many years, Slosberg was best known in the Legislature for his effort to pass a bill allowing police to pull over drivers for not wearing a seatbelt, which eventually became law.
Drake didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday. But last month during a committee meeting, under questioning from Slobserg on a texting ban, Drake said if there was support from enough members, and if it were “feasible and realistic,” then he’d hear a bill in the committee. Slosberg is a co-sponsor of a bill (HB 299), along with Republican Rep. Ray Pilon of Sarasota, that would ban texting and driving. The measure is assigned to Drake’s subcommittee, but hasn’t been put on the agenda for a hearing.
Slosberg is also the House sponsor of a bill that would prohibit the use of handheld cell phones and other electronic devices – not just for texting, but any use – by drivers under 18 and people driving school buses, regardless of their age. That bill (HB 187) also would have to get through the Highway Safety subcommittee. The measure would also put a limit on how many passengers young drivers could have in their car.
The ban on cell phone use by minors is sponsored in the Senate (SB 930) by Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, while the ban on texting (SB 416) is sponsored by another Republican, Sen. Nancy Detert of Venice, and was recently approved unanimously by the Senate Transportation Committee, so the issue isn’t a partisan one.
But restrictions on what drivers can do – from seat belt and car seat laws to those restricting kids from riding in the backs of pickups – have long cut along two divides in the Florida Legislature.
One is between rural lawmakers, some of whom see it as an infringement on a personal liberty that is part of rural culture and personal responsibility that goes against the Libertarian streak in many rural areas, and everyone else.
The other is along racial lines, with some black and Hispanic lawmakers in the past expressing concerns over new traffic laws, which some fear could lead to additional racial profiling.
The NTSB said Tuesday that distracted driving, some of it due to cell phone use, contributed to nearly 4,000 highway deaths last year, citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
“According to the National Safety Council, drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment,” the NTSB said in its recommendation.
The agency also said that in a national survey by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 69 percent of Americans reported that they’ve talked on their cell while driving in the last 30 days and 24 percent said they’ve texted or emailed while driving recently.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
19 Responses to “NTSB Urges Ban On Cell Phone Use While Driving; Florida Backer Not So Optimistic”
REGARDING:
“the odds are stacked way against anything like ”
So now we are looking it as gambling? You pays your money and you takes your chances.
200,000 traffic accidents in Florida in a year, most of them avoidable, That’s a lot of expensive paint and body work.
2,430 killed as a result of those traffic accidents.
How many won the state lottery last year?
David not scared but trying to be honest
Well there are plenty of people I would care about if I killed them accidentally and there are plenty of people I wouldn’t care if i killed them accidentally.
Regardless, the odds are stacked way against anything like Bob Hudson or you are so concerned about.
@Pauline….you said it all mam …. may I say your a hero to your children
and they will understand years from now if not already..
Many could learn from you.
REGARDING:
“The answer is NOTHING because it ain’t gonna happen – - – ”
Except that blowouts DO happen every day. Further, an alert driver can continue to control the vehicle while stopping without ramming and killing the people coming toward him. An alert driver might even notice signs of an impending blowout ere it happened.
Of course, if he’s busy doing other things at the time and kills an entire family due to his reduced attention, he can always say it was the Lord’s will, that it was just their time, that he couldn’t reasonably be expected to be paying sufficient attention to something which happens to somebody several times everyday.
Most driving fatalities are avoidable. They didn’t HAVE to happen. But I guess cautious drivers who look out for other people are scaredy cats to be mocked and belittled. I guess we’ve gone from superman to predestination to justify safety infractions. Why don’t we just admit we don’t care if we kill others?
David for truth
“…what are you going to do, when your front tire blows out, at 55 to 60 mph and you have your cell phone in your hand, held up to your ear?”
Bob, it’s obvious from your posts that you are one of the frightened people that watches too much news now you’re asking me a hypothetical question about what am I going to do when my front tire blows out?
The answer is NOTHING because it ain’t gonna happen except to one in a hundred thousand people. And if you’re unlucky enough to be on the opposite end of THAT bit of odds, well buddy it’s just your time, that’s all I can say.
Well guess what? I and many others are not willing to bet our life on your ” claim”. So what are you going to do, when your front tire blows out, at 55 to 60 mph and you have your cell phone in your hand, held up to your ear? Before you can even type one letter on this blog, you have lost control. The nature of movement always wins. Always.
“YOU may be right.”
Oh I AM right.
Very good comment , David, Hits the nail on the head.
REGARDING:
“I can drive while talking on the phone better with one hand than most people can drive with both hands on the wheel.
Trust me, I can.”
Most drunks assure you they’re great drivers, too. They think they are. Unlike them, YOU may be right. Come to think of it, many people involved in collisions also assure you THEY were good drivers, that it was the OTHER driver which got in their way.
A big part of driving is keeping track of the other drivers. Studies have shown the human brain has limited ability to process information; that given two tasks, they don’t actually do either as fast as they would do either single task.
Driving and talking are two different tasks. A normal human being has reduced response time when driving and talking, similar in fact to that of drunks. (Notice I’m not even talking about handling two different objects such as a steering wheel and a cell phone, just the process of talking and driving. It doesn‘t really even matter if you’re talking on a cell phone or just to the people sitting beside you. Distractions slow response times.)
Their recommendation isn’t for supermen, just for normal folks. They made it based on saving lives. If saving lives is less important than cell phone conversations, so be it. Let’s just be honest about the matter.
David for normal people and living
There’s a huge difference between texting while driving (DANGER!) and talking on the phone while driving (DEPENDS ON THE DRIVER). I can drive while talking on the phone better with one hand than most people can drive with both hands on the wheel.
Trust me, I can.
So the majority are going to be penalized because a few are incompetent.
That’s the American way, isn’t it? We like to live our lives in fear of something that MIGHT happen (but which statistically will probably never happen), so we go overboard to ensure that it doesn’t EVER happen.
America, the land of the frightened.
Put the law on the books…other commenters are correct though, people are going to do what they want to do regardless of the law…there is no respect for the law anyway, common courtesy is a thing of the past…and God forbid common sense rear its ugly head…the only thing people understand is when you hurt them in the wallet… impose a riduculously stiff fine for texting/using cell phones while driving and mandatory community service.. if people can get away with it they are still going to do it …get caught again double the penalties… take away their $$$ so they cant even afford a damn phone…
I think we need an all encompassing law but we also need to enforce it once we get it. It is one thing to say don’t do it but it’s another to let you get away with it. In Georgia it is illegal to text and drive and, if you are under 18 (i think) it is illegal to use a handheld phone. The other day I pulled up to a traffic signal and the state trooper was texting away on his cell phone. I wanted to take a picture of it with mine but I was afraid he’d see me and drum up some charge against me.
More laws aren’t the answer. It starts with being taught responsibility at home. When my 15 y/o got his permit, it was drilled into him no cell phone use while driving and seat belts are to be worn at all times while in vehicle, if he was caught he would lose his ride and phone. When he turned 17 I caught him on the phone driving. I follwed him to school, and confiscated his ride and phone right there in front of his friends. Told him I love him but he broke the rules . My husband drove his car back home. For the remainder of the school year he had to take the bus . Harsh I know , but he is now 25 now and has not had an accident or a ticket to date.
Jim said…”No law can prevent humans from doing dumb things….”
I said….That’s right, Jim. If I wanna drive drunk or blindfolded, who am I hurting? I doubt any of the folks who have loved ones killed by drivers who are texting or yapping on their phone would consider the tragedy “rare”.
The laws against drunk driving have reduced the incidence of related deaths. If the trend continues and deaths from drunk driving become “rare” should we then suspend those laws?
I am all for personal freedom, BUT, when you are driving a 3500 pound car, at 55 mph and talking on a phone, you are putting my life at danger, we all share the same highway .So a very poor judgement made by who ever is talking on the phone could kill some one. So is it worth it? No , nothing you can say on a phone, is worth a life. How many of you have been close to a accident , because some one was on a phone and not paying attention to what they were doing? Ask any one who rides a motorcycle how great cell phones are.We got along well , before we had cell phones.And we will get along fine after they ban them from highway use.Want to use your phone? Pull over. It’s my highway to.
Julie when people need an operating instruction to pour liquids from a boot, and then still cannot get it right, what alternative is left, but the law? I agree with you 100%, regarding the authoritarin state, but as long as idiots keep coming off the production line, what is the solution?
No law can prevent humans from doing dumb things….
We have too many that can’t see a whole picture like not hiring someone that uses tobacco while being grossly over weight which just might cause more medical expenses.
I would support a law stating that if you have a wreck or cause one while doing anything other than driving you will be penalized. Oh wait, we already do have that law.
Why be so selective? Why not make it a violation to touch a GPS screen, talk to passengers, look at the kids in the back, put on makeup, eat, smoke, kiss, hold hands or even pick your nose?
I’m sure you can come up with more safety laws.
Rare tragedies do not warrant laws that penalize the masses.
I agree, there is a great gulf between the demographic of Boca, and that of the panhandle. I have to agree as well, that texting and driving is bad news.
It’s my understanding this bill would apply to operating any device such as even the radio in your car. I realize texting is dangerous but is “More Legislation” the answer? Human society needs to start taking some personal responsibility and not keep looking for a law to be written to make it right. Come on folks, wise up!