The auto industry must take the lead in fighting driver distraction. It is a serious problem that kills thousands of Americans each year. Driver distraction was involved in 16% of the fatal crashes in the United States in 2008, according to the National Safety Council. There are many sources of distraction, including eating, drinking, smoking and tending to personal hygiene while behind the wheel. But at the top of the list is using a wireless device such as a phone, according to a study by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Distraction issues have been building since automakers began installing AM radios, which were followed by AM-FM; eight-track, cassette and CD players; then satellite radios. The ability to connect to the Web while driving has aggravated the problem.
Regulation is growing. Several states already ban texting or talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has started a campaign encouraging local police departments to write tickets for texting while driving. But research findings clearly show that hands-free-only laws fail to address the safety hazard of phoning while driving, because the distraction is primarily cognitive, not physical. And even those few laws that can effectively address the dangerous misuse of in-car distractions—or at least punish it after it causes a crash—vary by jurisdiction. Perhaps it is time for SAE to coöperate with other industry expert groups such as CLEPA to develop global standards for roadgoing electronics specifically to minimise driver distraction.
