Get the facts on hands-free use
Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving in San Diego. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Dec. 13 that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. But if lawmakers follow the advice of the federal board, police officers could be faced with decoding whether someone is using their cellphone or simply singing along to the radio, pleading with backseat children to stop fighting or reciting an important sales pitch. (Dec. 14, 2011) Credit: AP
In the wake of a recent call by the National Transportation Safety Board to outlaw driving while talking on even hands-free phones, State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) plans to hold hearings on distracted driving next year. That's exactly what needs to be done.
And the first thing that should be demanded in these hearings is hard facts: Are people actually crashing and killing themselves and others because of the use of hands-free phones?
The NTSB also called for a ban on using handheld phones and texting while driving, but both of those practices are already banned in the state of New York.
Distracted driving has existed as long as, well, cars. From fiddling with the windows and heater to arguing with a spouse to disciplining fractious children to finding just the right song on the radio to eating a burger, there has always been a lot going on behind the wheel besides steering. Is using a hands-free device while driving just another version of this, or something far more dangerous?
Additionally, banning the use of hands-free cellphones while driving would create just about the hardest law to enforce in history. Passing unenforceable laws is a mixed blessing, at best, because while such a law makes it clear the act in question is frowned upon, having rules that no one follows can erode respect for laws in general.
So yes, let us have the hearings, and the facts. Show us how many accidents are happening, whether using a hands-free device is worse than fidgeting with the radio, and whether a ban against it can be enforced.
Only after that will a wise decision be possible.
