Government Announces Upcoming Distracted Driving Summit

9/14/2010

While considerable progress has been made in recent months against the problem of distracted driving, the U.S. government is continuing to maintain its focus on doing more to keep motorists safe and to help keep auto insurance rates down.

Numerous states have taken steps in the past couple of years to ban distracted driving. Most of these new laws have focused on the particularly dangerous practice of texting behind the wheel, since this is most likely to take an individual's eyes off the road. A smaller number of laws have targeted the use of cell phones behind the wheel.

Still, enforcement of these laws is difficult when considering how hard it can be for police to actually spot an individual texting behind the wheel. In fact, polls have often found that even people who say they support laws against distracted driving continue to use electronic devices behind the wheel.

With that in mind, some states such as Utah have implemented laws that impose tougher penalties on those who cause accidents while distracted.

According to the Department of Transportation, the second summit on distracted driving will be held September 21 in Washington in an effort to "take stock of our progress and reassess the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."

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