Shoot – another of our rights being taken away. When will the feds
realize that killing people with your car doesn’t count. It’s just an
accident.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051121/NEWS10/511210…
Posted: 11/21/2005
Traffic safety experts say cell phones and teens are becoming an
increasingly dangerous combination on the highway, and now the
National Transportation Safety Board is urging states to ban cell
phone use by drivers younger than 18.
"We know that when you’re learning a skill, you should not be
distracted while you are doing it," said Mark Rosenker, acting
chairman of the safety board. "Anything that takes away from the total
focus of learning how to drive is a distraction."
Cells phones — which have been banned in cars in some states because
they distract the driver — are popular with Washoe County teens. A
Reno Gazette-Journal survey conducted five months ago found that more
than 90 percent of the 400 teen drivers interviewed said they have
driven while talking on one. Females do it more frequently than males,
the survey found.
(snip)
Eleven states and the District of Columbia have put limits on teens
using cell phones while they drive. At least 11 other states have
considered such laws, including Michigan, which is poised to ban
cell-phone use by drivers younger than 18.
And phones are just one of the distractions Washoe teens say they deal
with while driving. Many admitted they regularly chat with passengers
in the back seat, adjust the car stereo or program their iPod digital
music devices while negotiating Northern Nevada roads.