U.S. Secretary Of Transportation Looking Into Disabling Cell Phones In Vehicles
#1
   

Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, has been strangely absent from the news as of late. His agency just kicked off a series of videos showing the potentially tragic results of distracted driving, called (appropriately) “Faces of Distracted Driving”. As you’d expect, such a campaign would merit an appearance on cable news, and LaHood recently appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. That’s where things started to get weird, as LaHood was quoted as saying, “There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that. I think the technology is there and I think you’re going to see the technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going to save lives.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYdxQLJfhBg

There’s only one problem with LaHood’s plan: cell phone jammers exist today, but they’re more than slightly illegal. To make things more complicated, such devices are regulated by the FCC and not the DOT. I could be wrong on this one, but I’d assume the devices would also require some sort of licensing, since they’d effectively be broadcasting on a portion of the radio spectrum.

I’m all for making the roads safer and reducing distracted driving, but what happens when someone is the victim of a crime because they couldn’t call the police from the (relative) security of their automobile? How many accidents will go unreported, because drivers are too lazy to stop and call police from outside their cars? What about the millions of cars on the road today that aren’t equipped with cell phone jammers? It would take decades for such a mandate to have a noticeable effect on distracted driving, and by then I’m sure new car owners will have found a way around any cell phone jamming system the manufacturers add.

How about enforcing the laws already on the books? How about a $500 ticket for the first offense, followed by $1,000 and a three month license suspension for the second offense? How about tying federal highway funding to state enforcement of distracted driving laws, just like the Feds used to do to ensure states enforced the 55 mile per hour speed limit? If you really want to have an effect on distracted driving, mandating technology that would be expensive and troublesome to implement isn’t the way to go about it.
Reply
#2
Amen We don't need more regulation. We need more cops to give a shit about real problems. They're the ones out there seeing it and not doing anything to effect change even with laws about cell phones on the books. (thats because 90% of them have one stuck in there ear about 90% of the time. First you'd have to stop them!)
JTS71 Mach1
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Cell phones and radiation: Mach 1 Club 0 7,067 06-02-2011, 04:43 AM
Last Post: Mach 1 Club
  Mobile phones 'possibly carcinogenic' Mach 1 Club 1 8,555 06-01-2011, 06:24 AM
Last Post: Rare Pony
  A New Generation of Labels for a New Generation of Vehicles Mach 1 Club 1 9,088 05-26-2011, 10:35 AM
Last Post: Rare Pony
  Cell Carriers To Roll Out "Mobile Wallets" In Utah Mach 1 Club 2 11,198 04-07-2011, 12:58 AM
Last Post: Steven Harris
  Cell phone use affects brain cell activity – study says Mach 1 Club 5 15,998 02-25-2011, 10:40 AM
Last Post: 1969jimmach
  Toyota recalls 2.1 million more vehicles to fix gas-pedals jam issues Mach 1 Club 0 6,986 02-25-2011, 01:57 AM
Last Post: Mach 1 Club
  California may have the highest costs for charging electric vehicles, study says Mach 1 Club 0 7,575 01-16-2011, 08:25 AM
Last Post: Mach 1 Club
  Nissan Recall: 2.14 Million Vehicles Affected Worldwide Mach 1 Club 0 6,564 10-29-2010, 05:51 AM
Last Post: Mach 1 Club

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)
[-]
Latest Threads
What's One More Iron In The Fire!
Last Post: fram lee666
03-18-2024 06:21 PM
» Replies: 125
» Views: 238029
"Jacobra"
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
06-30-2023 11:13 PM
» Replies: 86
» Views: 150590
My old Queensland Ambulance
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
06-30-2023 11:08 PM
» Replies: 5
» Views: 1677
New member from San Jose, CA
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
05-09-2023 08:39 AM
» Replies: 12
» Views: 3953
Saving Seatbelts
Last Post: Jim
02-19-2023 10:23 PM
» Replies: 2
» Views: 9108
Sourcing new wheels
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
01-25-2023 02:34 PM
» Replies: 1
» Views: 1992
Shaker Air Filter
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
01-08-2023 02:24 AM
» Replies: 3
» Views: 1464
1971 Mach 1 parting out interior parts -...
Last Post: ylwhrse
12-22-2022 01:38 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 640
Painting
Last Post: Rare Pony
12-14-2022 06:24 PM
» Replies: 2
» Views: 1964
WELCOME ALL NEW MEMBERS INTRODUCE YOURSE...
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
08-31-2022 01:36 PM
» Replies: 82
» Views: 156972
1970 mach 1 matching numbers
Last Post: Kstweeter
08-31-2022 10:31 AM
» Replies: 1
» Views: 1086
Brake booster/servo hose length
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
08-23-2022 09:40 AM
» Replies: 7
» Views: 2990
New Member
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
08-20-2022 11:18 AM
» Replies: 2
» Views: 1497
smooth window operation on 70 Mach
Last Post: CUSTOMMISER
08-15-2022 12:10 PM
» Replies: 2
» Views: 1468
Blinkers on solid
Last Post: busted21
08-09-2022 03:58 AM
» Replies: 14
» Views: 8681
Blinkers on solid when lights on.
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
08-08-2022 12:06 PM
» Replies: 1
» Views: 1718
351 cj running hot
Last Post: busted21
08-08-2022 12:13 AM
» Replies: 5
» Views: 3403
Major Winter projects
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
07-09-2022 05:12 AM
» Replies: 49
» Views: 21017
Happy Fathers Day!!!
Last Post: JTS71 Mach1
06-20-2022 02:34 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 1681
1969 Raven Black 390 Looking For
Last Post: mason1958
06-11-2022 09:48 AM
» Replies: 10
» Views: 15074

>