Distracted Driving

Hour 1

This week the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that states ban talking and texting behind the wheel, including hands-free devices. Studies have shown that distracted driving plays a role in 8,000 crashes daily in the United States and is responsible for over 3000 fatalities a year. Last month, Pennsylvania became 35^th state to ban texting while driving and nine states and Washington D.C. ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. But some law enforcement officials complain that cell-phone bans are difficult to enforce. And a recent survey found that most people believe their driving isn’t compromised when they use mobile devices. Today, we look at the issue of distracted driving and the problems of enforcement with DAVID TEATER, the National Safety Council’s senior director of Transportation Initiatives. We’ll also discuss the cultural history of drunk driving with BARRON LERNER, a professor of medicine and public health professor at Columbia University who has written a new book on the subject, One for the Road: Drunk Driving Since 1900.  And finally, CHRISTIAN GERDES, Director of Stanford University’s Center for Automotive Research, tells Marty about self-driving cars. Is hands-free driving in our near future?

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[audio: 121611_100630.mp3]