How 'bout an App for reporting violators??

Just don't use it while your driving, walking or cycling!!

By introducing ban on hands free devices the OPPOSITE will be achieved. The safest way to talk on the phone is to have build in blu-tooth connection in the car (or separate device equivalent to that, but specifically designed for the car). This ban will make impossible to have such devices in your car since it will be impossible/unlawful to buy them. Hence people will return to the less safe means of communications, including non-hands free phones.

One should PROMOTE hands free phones, may be even REQUIRE all cars to be blutooth enabled.

I called Commissioner Hersman's office and was advised, rightly (I think), to start with my own state, which is responsible for enforcement.

I'm going to contact NYS DOT. If anyone has tips on sharpening/strengthening my approach, and can post in here before comments are closed (assuming they do get closed; I haven't checked), please do -- I'll check back in again later.

How would it be enforced? No one pays attention to the law that requires hands free devices--holding their phones up to their ears with the shoulder or hand--as it is. I can't tell how many times I've passed police cars on the road and the officer at the wheel (car in motion) is talking on the phone, not using a hands-free device.

The German automotive club, ADAC, did studies in the 80's examining the degree to which listening to radio distracted drivers. The results: the most distracting was talk radio, next up was classical music. Listening to pop music in your own language was less distracting and pop music in another language was almost irrelevant. So.. out with Brian, Leonard etc and in with Icelandic folk songs

Further to my other comment here and on the air:

I CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT TO fight fire with fire. Fight the fire of mobile abuse by drivers with the fire of mobile crowd-sourcing by passengers.

An actual "citizen's arrest" -- meaning "stop" -- on the highway is obviously a non-starter. So I call for a mobile version of that important legal tool.

HOW LONG must we wait for our government to get with the mobile program? How many innocents must die or be maimed on the road?

Hurry up, Commissioner Hersman, and press the power of mobile computing into the service of identifying bad drivers.

Guess I'd better send this rant to the commish. ;^)

Big thanks WNYC and Brian for the opportunity to address Commissioner Hersman on the air!

Texting drivers are much more noticeable outside the city, so much so that kids now while away their time on long trips by looking for distracted drivers. They're easy to spot. They wander over the lane markers, slow down in traffic -- like drunks. Sure enough when you pull up along side they're preoccupied with a device in their lap. Oncoming traffic is really scary as you watch a big SUV veer into your lane. Flashing your lights helps them snap out of it and get back on their side of the road. Then they give you the finger.

1. Having a passenger improves my concentration. Rather than "thinking" or daydreaming as I might do while alone, I am cognizant of the responsibility to protect the safety of the passenger.
2. As a 30-year jogger on suburban streets, I see many commuters driving their cars while talking, texting, emailing. The Connecticut hands-free law has made absolutely no difference.

the tests you spoke about describe how our brains operate when listening to a human voice. is it going to become illegal to talk to your passengers or to listen to the radio? not all passengers can "help out" with your driving (children, people in the back, people who are simply not focused on what's ahead...) humans use their brains to listen and speak doing all sorts of tasks. it seems ridiculous to outlaw hands-free phone as a result of a big accident caused by texting!

@bob from huntington

I wonder the same thing!

Stores, billboards and other signs can also be distracting. Maybe we should ban those, too. And landmark buildings like the Empire State ... it might be unrealistic to take it down or ban any further landmark bldgs, so how about if we just arrest drivers who look at them?

Most important thing to realize is that driving on public roads is a privilege in all 50 states, not a right. Therefore like it or not, you don't have a right to use your cell phone while driving on public roads, period.

Plus not to long ago, nobody had a cell phone in a car yet somehow society did not self destruct.....

Near misses, yes. Rude behaviour, yes. Yes - the insurance will not pay when the cell phone is at fault. Stupid to compare with radio, CDs, another passenger - apples & oranges. Get rid of the GPS - more often wrong than right, a real distraction. On the other hand, members of my family only call me when they are on the road.

Brian,

Just a thought, without a solution to offer ... but I find that even pedestrians who are focused on their hand-held devices pose dangers to others, and to themselves. I now need to navigate on crowded streets with hypervigilance, to avoid being pushed, walked into, etc. I also knew a surgeon whose life was ended as she crossed the street, while consulting with a patient on her cell phone. I'm sure this has happened to others, as well.

It's worse than being drunk!

Would they have the galls to ban advertisement billboards if medically they could prove how distracting they are on the road. Bet it wouldn't be as easy as penalizing the individual driver. Bet that kind of research wouldn't even get funded.

Great segment Brian...thank you.

Honestly, we should start ticketing people who text/talk while walking on the street! I've seen people get almost hit by cars because they're so distracted by devices. And don't get me started with folks who block pedestrian thoroughfares (staircases, hallways, sidewalks, etc) because they're too busy chatting and texting away and oblivious to their surroundings. If you need to talk/text, please stand to the side.

People here in Fredericksburg are driving poorly without any added distractions. I could compose a novel while driving and still be twice as good as the average driver here.
Not sure why the driving in this area is so awful, but I note that drivers licenses weren't required in Virginia until the 1920s!
I can talk on the cell w/o difficulty - if the driving situation gets hairy, I end the call.

As a bicyclist, pedestrian and motorist I am SICK of device-addled individuals EVERYWHERE!

UNPLUG - GET A CLUE!!!

"Terribly Flawed"
Really, a more controlled study is needed.
Also another study on children in the car, passenger in front seat, rear seat, listening to radio, TV watching listen to any distraction should be rated, including especially summer/winter women's clothing in the area comparison.

GPS devices should not be exempted. The portable GPS device is just as bad as a hand held cell phone!!! What's up with this? At least in dash GPS systems lock you out from entering information if you are in drive.

Anything that takes your hands off the wheel or eyes off the road should be prohibited. Hands free devices should be allowed.

Crowd sourcing is a POWERFUL tool. It is that power that Chairman Hersman did not address in response to my comment/question. Why not? We passengers are on the road in numbers. We are armed with cell phones that capture tons of information and I am far from alone in my willingness to give my self-identifying info to accompany my reports of distracted driving.

No cells in cars is completely unrealistic and counter-productive. I use my iPhone to navigate much more safely and accurately than unfolding a road map.

I use my iphone to GPS my trip- will i be arrested?

technology exists that would make it impossible to receive a cellphone signal while your motor is running.

why not make it a legal requirement for all motor vehicles.?

Let's face it - people have trouble walking down the street with their phones and not bumping into people let alone driving a ton of metal at 50mph

Can we ban young children from cars next? they can be pretty distracting and they don't have a mute button, unlike phones.

We should be like South Korea.... no cell phones and no radios in cars, period! To compensate for no car phones, the roadways have an emergency phone every 1/4 of a mile. Auto accidents in that country are extremely rare.

Supprt a ban 100%. Likely impossible to get it done, but it's fthe right thing to do. R

Prohibition, again?
(is daydreaming permitted?)

What about looking at google maps? I often look up a map on my phone before leaving on a trip. Printing it out may not be feasible.

Lucinda is correct. I've been in many cars when we were all conversing and the driver got really involved there was "slippage" as it were, in the drive; either swerving or not noticing a slow down/stop in front of the car. Yes Lucinda that's correct. I've done that study.

What about listening to the radio while driving? Would that have the same problem? Thank you, Zack

Will we also now not be allowed to operate MP3 players? Frequently, those are the same device as a person's cell phone.

I wonder how many accidents are actually reported legally to cellphones. It seems like something a driver could just blame on "lost control of the car" versus drunk driving where the evidence is in the blood.

We wanted a population of "multi-taskers" and now we've gotten it - for better or for worse.

So the NTSB is asking people whose productivity and livelihood is dependent on constant access to communication to no longer have access to that?

I refuse to talk to anybody using a cell phone and driving when they call me.

However, I think the NTSB is better off having safety officers issue fines for those who have illegally privacy "smoked" windshields.

AND MORE importantly blinding halogen headlights have got to go. They are a status symbol rather than a safety feature. That is truly more important safety hazard and one far more easily enforceable.

As a motorcycle driver, I can always tell who is driving distracted by the way their car moves on the west side highway. Luckily I can use my defensive driving skills to stay clear or move away. Distracted driving should be outlawed federally.

Your guest mentions that just hearing a person talking distracts one's focus from driving over 30%. How does that compare to listening to a person talking on the radio?

The refrain that "there are other things to distract drivers" is nonresponsive. There are some driving distractions that we can't control, but what's wrong with eliminating those that we can?

By Prof Just's logic, just listening to Brian Lehrer on the car radio will have the same 37% deficit as listening to someone talk.

So should we turn off WNYC in our cars??

Hi Brian,
I'd be very curious to know whether any studies have compared listening to, say, public radio, versus talking on the phone. Or listening to music, for that matter. In other words, is there something special about the phone? Or is it just listening to a human voice in general? Thanks!

Just a technical note -
enforcing this law could be a piece of cake. Put a cell broadcast sensor in police cars, combine with a visual search of the car (is the driver alone?) = ticket.

I have heard several media conversations regarding this topic so far today and I have not heard this comment. Many employers expect the employee to pick up a call while driving. I have informed my employer that I do not pick up calls while driving and it was not well received even when they agree with the no cell phone call while driving behavior.

Also... I don't take many cabs but I will tell you that in every taxi I've taken in the past 3 years (not many) every single driver was on the phone for the entirety of the ride. And every single driver almost caused an accident. So the Taxi Commission had better check their own people as they seem to be big abusers of this phone usage.

Not a bad idea, but this is hardly the only form of "distracted driving." I collect these, and my favorite example was two deaf people in a van having what appeared to be a vigorous argument, facing each other and using sign language, NO hands on the wheel or eyes on the road, while the van veered from one side of the road to the other, speeding up and slowing down with the rhythms of the argument.

How does talking on a hands free speakerphone compare with talking to the squabbling kids in the back seat?

I totally support this measure. I wish there were a cell phone blocking device in cars, I do not trust cell phone junkies on this one.

Does listening to talk radio similarly impact our driving ability?

How does phone use compare with radio or llistening to cds..

I imagine the phone user is more involved, less passive.

As both a driver and a pedestrian, I am all for this.
There have been far too many fatal accidents, and close calls, due to cell phone use.

Talking on the phone in a car demands much more of your attention than chatting with a passenger in your car. as a driver, I never chat on the phone - I know I can't handle it - I've seen what happens to my attention when I do it.

I actually don't understand why this is - why one's attention feels "sucked in" and removed from one's environment while having a phone conversation, versus chatting with someone in your car, which keeps you rooted in your environment.

ABSOLUTELY! People should not be allowed to use phones while driving in any way, hands free or otherwise. Any accident caused while on the phone should be escalated to a higher level of liability and accidents resulting in death should be considered manslaughter at minimum.

How can you get a brain image in a car?

YAY - NO CELL PHONES IN CARS! I wouldn't be happier.

Shut up and drive.

Having almost got run down by drivers in phone conversations on three different occasions you bet you butt I support this. But you know what? You know what? It won't work unless there's a law enforcement officer in each and every car to prevent it. None of the laws has worked yet as drivers just don't care and probably 99% don't get caught. Who's going to be there watching to stop them from using the phones now!! Baloney.

How is talking on a speaker phone (or even holding the phone to your ear for that matter) different from holding a conversation with a person who is in the car?

I would be more than happy to see no cell phones in cars.
Even the hands free are a distraction to a driver anad wouldn't it be nice to have a sanctuary from the need to be in constant contact.

They would not be "taking away" anything. Cell phones have crept into the driving populace. We lived WITHOUT them before and we can do it again.

And hey cellphone drivers it's not you who you should be worried about. It's all the other drivers doing the same thing.

Go Oprah!

people are selfish!

Public Service Warnings, fines, penalties,... will not deter drivers from talking/texting while driving. There is only one (1) effective way to eliminate these activities while driving. The NTSB should require that all vehicles be equipped with a 'signal buster' that kills any incoming/outgoing phone calls, texts,... whenever the vehicle is in gear - drive or reverse. The 'signal buster' would also need to have a feature that disables the device if an occupant of the vehicle dials 911.________While many people will see this as more government intrusion into our lives, simply expecting drivers act wisely is unrealistic.

There is no doubt that some drivers - many, in fact- are distracted by phones. But banning hands free is reductio ad absurdum. Shall we not talk to our passengers, either? Or tune the radio? Or glance at the GPS? A lot could be done to increase driver safety but this particular ban would be of marginal value.

and for decades I've been urging that, if you are in an accident while driving while on a cellphone etc., your insurance company will not have to cover it. I've been run into once and near misses miriad times, where the other person had a hand clamped to their ear (and a cigarette or beverage in the other hand)

Hooray! As an avid bicyclist I always thought that if I went out early enough I’d be sure to avoid any drunk drivers. The last few years I feel that all the distracted drivers out there make my old concern seem petty.
Now let's watch Albany waffle.