IDG News Service - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board recommended on Tuesday that states outlaw the use of all electronic devices, while driving, including cellphones with hands-free kits.
The board's proposal goes beyond laws already in place in many states against texting and against using phones without hands-free kits. It would cover all drivers of personal as well as commercial vehicles. The NTSB cannot enact or enforce laws itself but investigates accidents and issues recommendations for highway safety. In the past, it has recommended state laws for seatbelt use and other safety measures.
NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman announced the proposal after the board reviewed a recent crash in Missouri that killed two people and injured 38. In that incident, the driver of a pickup truck sent and received 11 texts in the 11 minutes before he crashed into a tractor-trailer rig at 55 miles per hour, setting off a multicar pileup that included a bus.
"It may seem like it's a very quick call, a very quick text, a Tweet, or an update, but accidents happen in the blink of an eye," Hersman said. "Thousands of lives have been lost due to distraction." The agency estimates that more than 3,000 people died in 2010 in distraction-related accidents.
