Several states around the U.S. have enacted laws limiting what people can do while driving, but for the first time, the federal government is proposing guidelines all drivers would need to live by.
The Department of Transportation yesterday announced a set of auto-technology guidelines, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), that would limit the functionality of electronic devices installed in vehicles.
The group says car makers will have to not allow drivers to textual content message, surf the internet, get entry to social networks, and even manually input an address destination right into a GPS instrument, except the vehicle is in park. external softwares that are not constructed into the car don’t seem to be lined beneath the proposed pointers.
We recognize that vehicle manufacturers want to build vehicles that include the tools and conveniences expected by today’s American drivers, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said yesterday in a statement. The guidelines we’re proposing would offer real-world guidance to automakers to help them develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want–without disrupting a driver’s attention or sacrificing safety.
The combat to finish distracted using has been underway for years. some states, like new york and California, have made it illegal for drivers to text or talk at the telephone whilst using, until they have got fingers-loose equipment. Others states, on the other hand, have no longer gone to this point. Florida, as an example, places no regulations on drivers. The state has a preemption legislation in place that prohibits localities from enacting distracted riding bans.
The NHTSA argues that distracted drivers have the reaction time of a person who is at the legal limit for drunk driving. Drivers who text, the NHTSA says, are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash than those who put their phones down.
That statistic becomes all the more sobering when one considers a survey Consumer Reports conducted last year, revealing that 30 percent of drivers under the age of 30 text behind the wheel, and 63 percent of them used a cell phone while driving in the 30 days prior to survey.
Although the NHTSA is now looking to do one thing to address that, it’s not likely many of the ones persons are using smartphones that may be controlled by means of their automobile’s interior elements. Bluetooth connectivity aside, few automotives have strong hyperlinks with smartphones.
However, the NHTSA says it will unveil phase II guidelines at some point in the future, which will address devices or systems that are not built into the vehicle but are brought into the vehicle and used while driving.
One other notice from the NHTSA’s tips: it wants to pressure car makers to search out how one can restrict muddle across the driver’s field of vision and cut back the period of off-street glances to no more than seconds.
The NHTSA’s guidelines are now available to the public. The organization will hold hearings in March in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. to solicit comment. The government will publish final guidelines after the public has commented.