“The National Transportation Safety Board voted 5-0 to recommend that states ban all driver use of cell phones and other portable electronic device while driving except for emergencies,” Eric Savitz reports for Forbes.
“The recommendation applies to both hands-free and hand-held phones, going well beyond existing state laws,” Savitz reports. “‘Manufacturers and providers of portable electronic devices known to be frequently used while driving should reduce the potential of these devices to distract drivers by developing features that discourage their use or that limit their non-driving- or non emergency-related functionality while a vehicle is in operation,’ the NTSB said.”
Savitz reports, “The NTSB does not have the power to actually impose a ban on driver use of mobile phones, but the unanimous recommendation could sway the states to toughen current distracted driver laws, which in many states bar the use of hand-held devices while driving, but which do not go so far as to ban the use of phones on a hands-free basis.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Siri.
Someone get some iPhone 4S units over to the NTSB, get them up-to-date (for a change) and show them why we and millions of others haven’t touched our iPhone 4S units to text, email or for many other uses while driving or otherwise since October 14, 2011.
Ban the lesser cell phones of the world outright, who cares, but obviously, Apple Siri-powered devices should be exempted. Plus, there’s no way to enforce a ban of iPhone 4S use while driving unless you’re going to attempt and fail to prohibit drivers from simply talking.
Apple wins again – and, since the release of iPhone 4S with Siri, is very likely saving lives each and every day.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David E.” for the heads up.]