Congressional pressure suppresses study of dangers of driving and multitasking
Yesterday, I posted about the misconceptions concerning multitasking and the dangers of driving while using a cell phone. Here’s some more on the subject.
The New York Times reports that congressional pressure caused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to suppress a study it was going to do on the dangers of using cell phones while driving:
In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cellphone use behind the wheel.
They sought the study based on evidence that such multitasking was a serious and growing threat on America’s roadways.
But such an ambitious study never happened. And the researchers’ agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.