DOT Won’t Back Total Cellphone Ban
The Department of Transportation will not back a proposal to prohibit drivers from talking on cellphones, including hands-free devices, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has been a strong proponent of reducing distracted driving, declined to endorse last week’s proposal by the National Transportation Safety Board to ban all cellphone use and texting while driving, the Journal said.
Hands-free calling was “not the big problem in America,” LaHood said at a Wednesday press conference, the Journal reported.
NTSB recommended last week that all drivers should not be able to send text messages or use mobile phones — even with headsets or speakers.
Under separate rules set to take effect in January, interstate truckers will face fines for using handheld phones while driving and suspension or revocation of their commercial driver licenses for repeat offenses, under a regulation announced last month.
That follows an earlier regulation prohibiting texting while driving by all commercial drivers.
