Today we don't just sit in our cars and drive from point A to B - we actually perform many other tasks while on the road. Cars today enable us to get directions and even catch up with friends on facebook while programming our favorite music. As I said we can program our music, phone systems and even play videos to entertain our children. All of this sounds positive, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns there are inherent dangers with this new technology, such as distracted drives who are not focused on the road. Although the automakers like to include these gadgets to sell cars some safety advocates would like to see serious changes to these "infotainment systems" included with the car. Ray Lahood who is our Transportation Secretary is investigating these studies and agrees there is some truth to it, but says these our voluntary measures not mandatory! This is our government running at warp speed! Knowledge is a gift we do not appreciate enough, but should!
Linkhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/us/carmakers-urged-to-curb-dashboard-distractions.html?scp=1&sq=carmakers%20urged%20to%20limit%20Dashboard%20Distractions&st=Search
1 comment:
While I think that all the gadgets we have in cars today contribute to more distracted drivers on the road leading to more accidents, government doesn't have the right to ban them from being installed. When and if these gadgets are used properly (I mean by not using them while the car is in gear) they are luxury's that if the owner of the vehicle wants then it's their choice to purchase. The government is trying all the time to wedge their way into telling us what we can and can't have or what we can or can't have, etc. However it's a hard issue/problem to solve. More than 3,000 people died in 2010 in crashes blamed on distracted driving according to article found here: http://www.theindychannel.com/automotive/30475073/detail.html
I really don't know how I feel about this issue because it has so many pros vs. cons and where do you draw the line as to what we allow the government to regulate and /or tell us what we can do.
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