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LaHood steers clear of hands-free cell phone use while driving debate
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that he agreed with the National Transportation Safety Board that cell phone should not be used manually while driving, but he steered away from a debate about whether hands-free devices should be allowed behind the wheel.
LaHood, who has pushed states to adopt distracted driving laws since he was appointed by President Obama in 2009, said Wednesday "Nobody has used to the bully pulpit on distracted driving more than Ray LaHood."
But when he was asked during a news conference Wednesday in Washington whether hands-free devices sufficiently reduced the distraction to drivers caused by cell phones, LaHood demurred.
"That is not the big problem in America," LaHood said of handsfree devices, saying drivers had a responsibility to put their phones away when they got behind the wheel.
NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman has said the rationale being the safety board's recommedation is the act of talking on the phone itself causes the distraction. The panel's recommendation calls for states to pass laws banning all electronic devices from being used in cars except those that directly "assist with the driving task."
She argues that the act of talking on the phone itself causes the distraction.
"The distraction that is there is not just from manipulating something," she said last week in a news conference announcing the new rules. "There's a cognitive distraction."
LaHood took a different tack Wednesday, arguing that a ban on manual cell phone use was necessary because "There are a lot of people out there who can''t afford a Bluetooth or a Sync."
