Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Distracted Driving

CBS 2 Reporter Files Dispatch on Pedestrian Deaths While Driving Distracted

By Ben Fried | Mar 8, 2012 | 5 Comments

The distracted drivers over at CBS 2 News have outdone themselves. Even when the topic turns to pedestrian fatalities and the script does a decent job of describing the problem, the genius producers who brought you “Mobile 2” make their reporters file from a roving deathtrap with a satellite link. Watch reporter Kathryn Brown struggle […]

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DOT Issues Voluntary Guidelines for Driver-Distracting Electronics Systems

By Ben Goldman | Feb 21, 2012 | No Comments

Distracted driving has become one of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s banner issues under secretary Ray LaHood’s tenure, with agencies launching safety programs and awareness campaigns aimed at preventing the practice. Last week, LaHood stepped into new territory by recommending that cars be built to automatically disable potentially distracting electronic devices when in motion. The […]

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Pitchfork-Wielding Consumers Hold Auto Industry Hostage!

By Anne Lutz Fernandez | Jan 18, 2012 | No Comments

It’s sad, really. Tremendous gains in vehicle fuel efficiency have been squandered, MIT’s Christopher Knittel demonstrates in a study published in the American Economic Review. Knittel’s analysis quantifies how, while automakers have applied meaningful fuel economy innovations over the past several decades, these have produced only modest gains in miles per gallon, because at the […]

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NTSB: States Should Ban Hands-Free Calls While Driving

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 15, 2011 | No Comments

In Missouri last year, a 19-year-old driving a pickup at 55 mph sent or received 11 texts in the 11 minutes immediately before he caused a deadly crash. The ensuing collision killed the texting driver as well as a 15-year-old student who was on a high-school band trip to the Six Flags amusement park in […]

BlackBerry Outage Linked to Massive Drop in Traffic Crashes

By Brad Aaron | Oct 17, 2011 | 6 Comments

According to data released last week by NYPD, distracted drivers were the leading cause of city traffic crashes in August. Of 16,784 incidents, 1,877 were attributed to “driver inattention/distraction,” while an additional 10 were linked specifically to phones or other electronic devices. While NYPD reports make it impossible to decipher exactly how many city drivers […]

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Ford, Verizon Support National Distracted Driving Law — And Its Loophole

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 13, 2011 | No Comments

Yesterday, Ford became the first automaker to endorse a bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), to ban distracted driving. When a similar bill was introduced in the last session, Ford was the first to endorse it then, too. McCarthy’s bill requires USDOT to set minimum standards for state bans on “the use of hand-held […]

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