April 30, 2012
News

In 1930, former Massachusetts state senator George Parker tried to ban car radios because they were too distracting. He invoked the ire of both the Radio Manufacturers Association and motorists, who loved driving to music, even though early radios were expensive and sometimes burst into flames. After consumers protested at his office, Parker dropped the effort and decided to focus on drunken driving instead.

Drivers today are similarly attached to their cellphones and in-car technology. But unlike the drivers of the 1930s, they're conflicted over efforts to regulate them. While a survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found 94% of drivers consider texting while driving "a serious threat" and 87% favor texting bans, more than a third admitted reading a text or e-mail while driving in the past month. Nearly 70% of drivers reported talking on their cellphone while they were driving. The disconnect doesn't end there. There's disagreement among safety experts over whether there even is a distracted-driving crisis and just who should have to solve it — the auto or cellphone industry. As car- and phonemakers work together to reduce distractions by better linking mobile devices with cars, some safety advocates and federal officials say that's also too risky.

Read the full article here.

USA Today