DoL Joins DoT in National Effort on Distracted Driving
On Tuesday, September 21, the Department of Transportation hosted a Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, DC. The event brought together a US Senator, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis (see next story on OSHA’s initiative) and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood with representatives from the Department of Transportation, FMCSA, OSHA, NIOSH, a variety of associations including ASSE, volunteer and victim groups, educators, communications and advertising professionals, and others interested in working together to make distracted driving the next leading public safety issue, as groups like MADD helped improve greatly public awareness and opposition to drunken driving. DoT’s effort, which Secretary LaHood takes an active leadership role in advancing, can be found at http://www.distraction.gov/. You can follow Secretary LaHood who often posts on this issue at Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sec.lahood and Twitter at http://twitter.com/RayLaHood. Video clips from the summit can be found at http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/rita/100921/. FMCSA and PHMSA are moving forward regulatory efforts to address the issue for truck drivers and those involved in pipeline work. Efforts to advance the issue on the state level will continue, and DoT has developed a state model bill prohibiting texting while driving developed by DoT for that effort can be found at http://www.distraction.gov/files/dot/texting-law-021910.pdf. ASSE’s own position on distracted driving, which focuses on workplace safety and the fact that distracted driving is not limited to electronic device use, can be found at http://www.asse.org/professionalaffairs_new/positions/ddmv.php. While this list is not complete, some of the other groups at the summit involved in the issue included
• Allstate’s effort at www.facebook.com/save11 bringing attention to the fact that 11 teens die in car crashes each day.
• The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. www.aaos.org/donttext
• The Black Nail Brigade, a nonprofit organization providing information and resources for crash victims and their families arising out of tragic Illinois accident caused by a woman painting her nails. www.blacknailbrigade.org
• National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities. www.lifesaversconference.org
• National Council of State Legislatures, which has excellent info on state legislative efforts at http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=18657
• National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS), an organization aimed at providing leadership and vision to address youth health and safety issues in collaboration with youth organizations, business and industry, and federal agencies. www.noys.org
• The National Road Safety Foundation. www.nrsf.org
• National Safety Council, a sponsor of the summit, which has a white paper, “Understanding the Distracted Brain” that can be found at http://www.fnal.gov/pub/traffic_safety/files/NSC%20White%20Paper%20-%20Distracted%20Driving%203-10.pdf.
• Operation Lifesaver focused on safety around railroad tracks. www.oli.org
• The Roadway Safety Foundation. www.roadwaysafety.org
• www.stoptextdriving.org
• Under Your Influence. www.underyourinfluence.org