We've had discussions here before about one line between legitimate government dictates (those aimed at keeping us from harming others) and inappropriate nannying (trying to keep us from hurting ourselves. The National Transportation Safety Board is jumping into an issue that sort of straddles the line by recommending that all 50 states enact bans on "driver use of personal electronic devices."
The NTSB has been investigating a deadly crash in Gray Summit, Missouri last year. A 19-year-old pickup driver sent 11 texts in the 11 minutes before before the accident, according to the NTSB, including one “right before impact.” The accident killed two people and injured 38.
“We will never know whether the driver was typing, reaching for the phone, or reading a text when his pickup ran into the truck in front of him without warning,” Hersman said in her opening statement.
“But, we do know he had been distracted — cognitively, manually, and visually — while driving.
“Driving was not his only priority.”
No need to belabor the obvious point that all kinds of things, from listening to the radio to eating a sandwich, can be distracting to a driver. Making driving the "only priority" while behind the wheel is the kind of common sense that can't be commanded by law, though heaven knows they keep trying. What's interesting here is that the NTSB's recommendation was spurred by its investigation into an accident caused by texting, which a number of states already ban, but it wants all use of devices banned, including talking on cell phones. People who complain that government never stops short of going too far may now mutter "Told you so, told you so."
Oh, and the biggest shock in the story:
While the NTSB investigates transportation and pipeline accidents and makes recommendations on safety rules and regulations, it has no power to implement them.
A federal agency that doesn't have the power to just make up rules and make us all follow them? Didn't know there was such a thing. It can only recommend and hope the states follow through? How very inefficient.
