The nation risks a surge in deadly accidents unless it makes distracted driving - talking, texting and surfing the Internet while operating cars, boats and trains - as taboo as drunken driving, members of the National Transportation and Safety Board said Tuesday.
"Many people continue to think it's just going to take a moment (to call or text)," NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said. "How do we change that mindset? Not just the NTSB, but all of us?"
The July 7 accident began with an engine problem on an amphibious duck boat, which takes tourists through Philadelphia's historic district and then floats on the Delaware River. As the passengers waited for a help, a 250-foot barge being pushed by a tugboat struck the duck boat, spilling 37 people into the water.
In about 2 1/2 hours at the wheel of the tug, K-Sea Transportation Partners tug pilot Matt Devlin made and received 21 cellphone calls and also surfed the Internet on a company laptop, investigators said.
What's more, Devlin moved from an upper to a lower wheelhouse on the tug to do so, obscuring his ability to see the stalled 33-foot duck boat. Investigators believe the lower wheelhouse offered him more privacy and less noise as he talked on the phone and did research on a company laptop _ both violations of company policy.
You cannot legislate safety dumb people do dumb things this is how we weed out the idiots.
ReplyDelete12:56 has it right.
ReplyDeleteThey keep lowering the bar to the least common denominator with laws.
Soon you won't be allowed to mow grass and listen to your Ipod.
Stop with the stupid laws!
When three wheelers were very popular and every kid had to have one the industry stepped up production to meet the demand, but then it became dangerous to opperate them becouse of the balance issue. Many kids were getting killed on them. What did our national safety board do, they outlawed them. This is exactly what the govt. needs to do now, OUTLAW TEXTING , period. Take that option right out of the equasion.
ReplyDeleteI say we all cancel our cell phones at once.
ReplyDeleteJust make all cell phones illegal that will solve the problem. This type of logic is far fetched and stupid. If it's not cell phones it'll be something else. Make the punishment severe like suspend or revoke license's for use while driving, that might get some attention.
ReplyDeleteHow can you enforce any law when the enforcers are breaking the same law?
ReplyDelete