recently complicated by evolution in technology and proliferation of technology we do know that six thousand people died in two thousand and eight where there were reports and this is not necessarily comprehensive of one form of driver distraction or another and that's that's the statistic that we want to break down way down and we also had duncan well thank you very much mr chairman for calling this hearing it's not a new problem in may of two thousand and one when mr p travel was chairman of the subcommittee at the end of the subcommittee hearing that address the same issue and of course a years later we're still faced with some of the challenges we discussed in two thousand and one except the problem has grown tremendously since that time because so many people today are addicted to the blackberry and other gadgets in fact i remember meeting a few months ago where a young woman in new york city was so intensely involved with her blackberry that she walked in the nope a manhole cover in new york city and and then just yesterday in the political newspaper they had a story about a man who was almost hit by a car in georgetown is because he was trying to read his blackberry is across the street and so there's you know we've with all the advances in technology we've witnessed an increase in the number of devices and gadgets that can take our eyes and our minds off the road i remember walking a few years people agree the driver should not tap e mail messages on their blackberries or text their friends on their cell phones while they're driving and i want to i want to say that i you know i certainly o discourage people from using these these new gadgets while they're driving in to keep their eyes on the road and i certainly look forward to hearing  other witnesses and all the experts on this problem there it's a difficult one because there's a problem about enforcement and so forth but we need to emphasize that you know unfortunately  our highways still are and in this subcommittee we need to do and certainly try to do everything we can to make our roads and highways safer so thank you for calling this hearing and i look forward to hearing from the witnesses been asked today to show some videos from a series of studies that we've done that we refer to as naturalistic driving studies these are large scale studies where we collect a variety of sensor data and video data sophisticated instrumentation of the sensor imitation and is in drivers own cars and trucks they're not given any specific instructions they just drive as they normally do thus far we've collected data from over six hundred drivers each driver was driving their vehicle either car every truck between four and eighteen months so we have collected one hundred thousand hours of continuous driving data and over seven million miles this is an important methodology because it allows us for the first time to get detailed information on driver behavior just prior to crash in your crash event human performance and behavior it's well known accounts for over ninety percent of vehicle crashes a subset of these behaviors really create most of the crash or if this is impairment due to alcohol primarily inattention and distraction is a big one drowsiness and then judgment related error this study provides a new opportunity to get real world data in the larger text of driving and get detailed pre crash information so what i'm going to do is show you some examples of that the data that we've collected from a variety of different studies this study is called one hundred cars study what you see what you're going to see here in a minute is a teen driver eighteen years old  a driving through a neighborhood who is lost and pulls out her cell phone and begins to dial what this little graph here shows you is that she makes a very hard braking maneuver and that's what allowed us to find the event but if you look in the screen right here you'll see a child on a tries to call come out in front of her and she just barely misses that child so in the lower left she takes out her cell phone and she begins to dial and then you see the drivers like oh right there are researchers on the driver's look back and forth between their their cell phones and the and the forward road way her sequence of eyes scanning had been opposite of what it was she probably would have hit the child of light one more time this next case is a teen driver talking on a cell phone and this is a also a very common occurrence of what we see this is a newly licensed teen driver sixteen years of age and she's essentially runs off the road and hits hits the curb on the right and misses a sign by about twelve inches so i'm glad for y that for this one i have to ensure that there's no video being recorded that some of these are sensitive for privacy reasons this is a driver phone a little hard to see but in the lower left he doesn't have either hand on the steering wheel for most of the time he's driving with his knees and he it's a left curb and barely misses trees and signs so he's not in good control of his vehicle he's gone about forty five miles an hour we see this kind of behavior all the  time this is a semi tractor trailer driver he's using a mobile data terminal which includes a full keyboard and a display screen he's got a sitting on his steering wheel he runs off on the right shoulder of the road and then correct back as a as a truck is passing but fortunately keeps it in the lane without overcorrecting a little bit or he would hit the truck but you can see him looking down typing a message eyes or out the road for somewhere in a neighborhood of four or five seconds while he's doing this t here's a driver who is a truck again the semi tractor trailer he's going to tax while he drives is just seeing either hand on the wheel he's driving on a road with no shoulder and he just shifted in and now he's going to century run off the road to the right just off the pavement this is a driver that's reaching for a ringing wireless device looks like it's hard to tell but it looks like he's trying to pull it out of a jacket pocket but you see here nearly has a head on collision while he's trying to get to the wireless device right there i'm going to show you a crash there's not i can't show you many crashes because the subjects have to agree to release the data to clean the case of trucks director i was are not willing to do that very often but this one is blurred to the point with no video playing  you going to see the truck roll over in the median this is a reading task but it's an external to his he passes this bob tail  tractor he is fascinated by the the writing on the side of it anyways looking trying to read what it is he takes his eyes off the road for five seconds comes across the stop line of cars luckily misses that interesting aspect of this data is the police reports said that he was following too closely or tailgating and and distraction wasn't mentioned as a cause in the police report he didn't even remember it so he was interviewed after the we would ask the honorable carolyn mccarthy from new york's fourth district to come forward and testify for five minutes on the bill she's introduced on this issue thank the ranking member duncan for having me here today and i appreciate the members being here also i commend the chairman and certainly the members of for recognizing the importance of distracted driving in our nation former colleague and now secretary la hood has done a terrific job bringing this attention to nationwide across the country but much like the department of transportation's recent distract d driving summit hearings such as this serve as a great opportunity to vet plausible and fact of solutions to this growing problem i know that i had surgery during july and for about six weeks i could not drive so i had a lot of people driving me around to different appointments and every one of them was text messaging and i tell you my life mainly because the way they were driving anything that was going to hit was going to hit on my side and i would didn't appreciate that so it is banned for anyone in the car that's driving my myself similarly i certainly thank president obama who is signing an executive order effectively banning all federal employees from texting behind the wheel both initiatives represent important steps toward cultivating safety for our nation's roadways but falls short of applying these safety precautions to each and every driver this is why i'm here today to testify that the dangers of distracted driving are not limited to federal employees several studies including one conducted in your tech transportation institute recently did that drive is a twenty three times more likely to get into an accident while texting and driving with smart devices that provides access to e mail text messaging the internet more individuals are becoming more increasingly  manufacturers are coming out with that it's still taking your attention away from what you're supposed to be doing and that is we as members of congress should seek out ways to encourage the use of these technologies in an effort to lower the risks throughout our transportation system recent surveys suggest large majorities regarding regardless of political affiliation believe irresponsible use of handhelds behind the wheel should be illegal most drive his hands on the wheels and all eyes on the road with the well we had just as far as some of the videos i have seen many people driving with their knees and doing i believe represents a strong first step towards combat ing with venables road accidents my bill directs the secretary of transportation to establish minimum texting while driving standards of protection that state legislators must meet will also allow states to establish stricter standards as they see fit and much like the laws of the legal age to consume alcohol and blood alcohol concentration limits for drivers the bill is upheld percentage of federal hardway funding to states that do not comply the bill has going to support of consumers in affected industries to create a solution to distracted driving while some states like new york state my home state have taken it upon themselves to ban the practice within its borders well others still lack of prudent measures to curb their behavior what makes a nationwide ban so important is the fact that distracted driving is a practice is not isolated within particular states were over inconsistent laws over our country serve only to confuse in a bowl of drivers with texan drive let me finish up with saying that we have an opportunity here obviously to have highway safety but we also have an opportunity to cut down on accidents and deaths which also of course this nation a great deal of money there are many solutions out there i certainly am willing to work with the transportation secretary la hood to come to a solution down the road with that i'm open to any questions excellent thank you and thanks for your advocacy and your initiative and leadership on this can pull over so we can continue the conversation i thought i would then particularly embarrassing to have that conversation while driving and i didn't have a chance for you know so thank you very intelligent then and thank you for being here today mr chairman thank you for changing the time to make it convenient for me to be here and as i told you in our phone conversation this is a very very important issue for me and to you and ranking member dun to all the members that are here thanks for your interest and the opportunity to appear to discuss what i believe is one of the most important issues that we can really address and that's distracted driving transportation safety is the department's highest priority distracted driving is a dangerous practice that has become a deadly epidemic our research shows that unless we take action now the problem is only going to get worse especially among our nation's youngest drivers i think it really is an epidemic among our youngest drivers this trend distresses me deeply and i am personally committed to reducing the number of injuries and fatalities caused by distracted four weeks ago the department of transportation hosted a summit to help us identify target and tackle the fundamental elements of this problem we brought together over three hundred experts in safety transportation research regulatory affairs and law enforcement more than five thousand people from fifty states and a dozen countries also participated the the web we heard from several young adults who had engaged in distracted driving and who discuss the terrible consequences of their actions we also heard from several victims of this behavior whose lives have been changed forever mothers and fathers who lost children and children who lost a parent told us their stories and i want you to know that i promised these families i would make this issue my cause the unanimous conclusion of the summit participants is that distracted driving is serious and an ongoing threat to safety this conclusion is borne out by the facts our latest research shows that nearly six thousand people died last year in crashes involving a distracted driver and more than half a million people were injured this is not a problem caused by just a few negligent drivers to the contrary aaa foundation for traffic safety a nonprofit educational and research organization reports that sixty seven percent of drivers admitted to talking on their cell phone within the last thirty days while behind the wheel and twenty one percent of drivers indicated they had read or sent a text or e mail message of figure that rose to forty percent for those drivers under the age of thirty five as shocking as these numbers are it is clear that this problem is only getting worse and the youngest americans are most at risk while the worst offenders may be the youngest they are not alone on any given day last year an estimated eight hundred thousand vehicles were driven by someone who used a handheld cell phone at some point during the drive people of all ages are using a variety of handheld devices such as cell phones personal digital assistants and navigation devices and they're behind the wheel however the problem is not just confined to vehicles on our roads it affects all modes of transportation experts agree that there are three types of distractions number one visual taking your eyes off the road number two manual taking your hands off the wheel and number three cognitive taking your mind off the road while all distractions can a virtually impact safety texting is the most troubling because it of all three types of distractions in the words of dr john lee of the university of wisconsin this produces the perfect storm for all these reasons at the conclusion of the summit i announced a series of concrete actions that president obama's administration a t are taking to put an end to distracted driving the president's executive order banning texting and driving for federal employees is the cornerstone of these efforts and sends a strong unequivocal signal to the american public distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable the executive order prohibits federal employees from engaging in text messaging while driving government owned vehicles when using electronic equipment supplied by the government while driving and while driving privately owned vehicles when an official went on official government business this ban takes effect government wide on december thirtieth this year however i have already advised all fifty eight thousand d o t employees that they are expected to comply with this order immediately d o t is also working internally to formalize compliance and enforcement measures and we are in close consultation with the general services administration and the office of personnel management providing leadership and assistant to other executive branch agencies to ensure full compliance with the executive order by all federal departments and agencies no later than december thirtieth the o t is also taking other concrete actions to reduce distracted driving across all modes for instance one year ago we began enforcing limitations on texting and cellphone use throughout the rail industry we are taking the next step by initiating three rule makings or enforcements number one to codified restrictions on the use of cell phones and other electronic devices in rail operations to to consider are banning text messages and restricting the use of cell phones by truck and interstate bus operators while operating vehicles and three to disqualify school bus drivers convicted of texting while driving for maintaining their commercial driver's license we will work aggressively and quickly to evaluate regulatory options and initiate rulemaking as appropriate moreover our state and local partners are key to any success we have in addressing distracted driving have encouraged our state and local government partners to reduce fatalities in crashes by identifying ways that states going to distract and driving in their strategic highway safety plans and commercial vehicle safety plans and to assist them in their efforts i have directed the o t to develop model laws with tough enforcement features for all modes of transportation there are other affirmative measures that states can take immediately to reduce the risk of distracted driving for example we are encouraging the installation of rumble strips along roads as an effective way to get the attention of distracted drivers before they divert from their lane education awareness and outreach programs are essential elements of the action plan these measures include targeted outreach campaigns to inform key audiences about the demon dangers of distracted driving and take high visibility in forstmann actions we are still researching the effectiveness of combining high visibility enforcement with outreach campaigns in the distracted driving context but we are hopeful that such efforts may prove effective in the same way that we have been able to use these to use them to reduce drunk driving and increase seatbelt use all of these measures are the beginning not the end solving the problem in solving the problem of distracted driving d o t will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to collect and evaluate comprehensive distract the driving related data needed to better understand the risks and identify effective solutions and the administration will continue to work with congress state and local governments industry and public and the public to end the dangers posed by distracted driving and encourage good decision making by just drivers of all ages we know we may not be able to break every one of their bad habits but we are going to raise the awareness and sharpen the consequences and i want to thank you mr along with our ranking member mr duncan and the secretary for being here and focusing attention on this issue mr duncan and i have not had a chance or on our side to sit down and talk about legislative proposals on our support or opposition at least from the republican side or what we favor but i wanted to come this morning for just a minute first of all usually when the secretary or the colleague and now our secretary for taking a very positive initiative and i know he was criticized the enough for not legislative or tough enough or something by some folks but i think he did exactly the right thing he called attention to a we can do from an executive standpoint and from the administration standpoint and we're encouraged to work with them on rail trucks buses all of the things that you mentioned here today will be very supportive of our side of distractions and we know now we're up to around six thousand fatalities is as you cited from distraction i remember one right my wife and i took down a road in tallahassee and i thought our life was over when a young lady coming in the opposite direction was putting her makeup on and drove us off the road into a we were not injured fortunately but it was a distracted driver of cell  continuity of efforts to try to improve the situation if you do this on a risk based approach you just look at the statistics first of all twelve thousand eight hundred sixty five  yesterday's hearing in the senate and it was pretty it was pretty interesting to hear that and i heard dorgan lost his mother to a drunk conclusion here we had a huge problem in central florida in florida with big trucks and das i mean it was some of the nightly news displays that the carnage on the road was horrible and this is about two thousand and three i think i took an interest so we looked at a couple of things and enforcement and then i've made some simple suggestions like you're doing here for improvements and we found out that florida had not pass laws compliant with what federal government required and we went to the legislature they changed the law and they got twice as much money and twice as much in forstmann i just got the statistics on the last year and it's absolutely dramatic but they the lives that haven't been lost through often force but and the secretary did mention enforcement so i know in a cooperative effort in forcing laws that senate hearing in this hearing will probably talk about carrot and stick approach is getting the right balance of care and stick from us i just say we'll work with you and try to try to make the rest of messages all week from one of my close friends who rode off the highway last week and his wife was intensive care all last week on the verge of death so far she's coming out of it in an automobile accident on ninety five so these are important issues and i thank you all again for approaching this today i'm distracted by another committee meetings i have to speak at ron thank you i thank the gentleman for his remarks and concerned my secretary if i could ask a few questions and you may not be intimately familiar with this program get big department but there's something called the futures strategic highway research program which apparently includes a large scale naturalistic driving study and i'm wondering when we might expect to but if you can let us know that that would be helpful if you were able to stay but i mean the later panel you'll find there is some difference of opinion and i'm certain perhaps you heard some of that it at your s t i mean seems like everybody agrees texting is by far and away the most dangerous activity and then you get down to handheld cell phones and but there are some studies that portray you know even hands free voice actuated devices as distracting as a handheld cell phone which personally i find a little bit difficult to believe but i don't know if  know if much of that came up at your summit and if you had any opinion on sort of the look at i just i spent two days in detroit and i i wrote in a new taurus and they have a program that they where they can you can put your blackberry in a little device and it will sink all of your numbers so you have to talk they have the technology then where you just say dial such a number and it automatically does it the epidemic is with people protecting while driving but i will tell you this mr chairman i think any distraction is a problem i think eating a hamburger putting your make up on  shaving texting talking on a cell phone these are all distractions and but the epidemic is really with people texting that's what but all of these other things are distractions to the i i met a young man from chicago at the summit whose mother was riding a motorcycle and a woman came up and plowed into she was sitting at a stoplight and another person came up a woman and plowed into the back of her going thirty five miles an hour and the woman was painting her nails the woman that plowed into his mother who was killed was painting her fingernails and now he has an organization called the black nail brigade where he pain one hand the fingernails on one hand and wears a t shirt called the black male brigade and travels all over the country trying to persuade people not to text not to paint your nails not to shave not to put on makeup not  mcdonald's hamburger while you're driving these are all distractions and as much as i like driving the taurus and as much as i like their sync system where you put your blackberry united sinks all your numbers and you talk to it it's a distraction not a look at texting while driving is the biggest distraction i think all these things are a distraction and i i wonder and i don't know i don't keep up with obviously with the literature or the or the videos but i mean i remember when when i was learning to drive i mean they had what in those days were movies and they would show you know crashes and that means that try and sort of put a little reality on you as a kid i did see one you tube video of a bunch of kids in a car that very dramatic you know and i'm wondering if if we're looking at you know either disseminating or developing some materials that could be used  schools and in driver's ed programs around the country because as we see that texting number one distraction or worse distraction and then a lot of problems with youthful drivers because of the combination of inexperience and u of these devices and i'm just thinking that you know that would be a useful technique and then look at i think there's three solutions for texting and i think education is one of them i think we have to get into driver education programs and really teach children sixteen year olds when they're learning how how to drive that you need to put your seatbelt on and they do teach that and they also we need to teach him you can't win you the second thing you need to do is put your blackberry in a glove compartment put your cell phone in a glove compartment so that you're not distracted from what you're supposed to be doing so i think education i think personal responsibility i think we need to teach the idea that you have a personal responsibility for the people you friends that are in the car people around you and i also think enforcement point zero eight and seatbelt laws prove that and for some it works everybody in america knows what point always means now when they see it ten years ago they probably did not everybody knows click it or ticket what that means it means that when you click it you're putting your seatbelt on and you're going to avoid a ticket in forstmann is important and i know there are not enough police to enforce all these things that's why i talk about personal responsibility and i also talk about education but in for some it is very important too and that's what all of you are going to have to get into when you write your bill would you in focusing just this week last question i'll turn to mr duncan but there are proposals to require the you know the states to move move forward with some restrictions or sanctions and or enforcement under as ms maloney as under penalty of loss of some federal funds i mean do you think we should go that far already have a particular opinion on that well i do think the states are the  of our state of illinois where mr lipinski and mr shock and i come from they've passed a very very good law but seventeen other states have passed good laws too but i believe in the carrot and the stick approach and i'm not going to sit here and tell all of you what bill you to be supporting but we're going to work with you all and we'll work with senator schumer and senator rockefeller and we'll work with you mr chairman and anybody else that wants to put legislation together we need legislation we do and we're willing to work with you on this and we ought to look at what the states have done and because they are the incubators for these things  anything that you want to do on this this is not a republican or democratic thing it's a very serious and growing problem as you have said and i know all of the separate stories  frequently have used a cell phone while driving myself i've never sent a text message but i will say this if this hearing had been held last week a scheduled i probably wouldn't have felt a strongly about as i do now but friday afternoon when i flew home to knoxville i was driving on the interstate connector on the road where the people go sixty five and seventy miles an hour and i have an x am radio on in my car and i you know you can push buttons and go from am f m into the back to the exam and a lot of different stations and i took my eyes off the road and then i looked up after a few seconds and i saw the pickup truck in front of me had come almost  heavy traffic when cars were zipping by me right and left and it's i still can't believe that i wouldn't hit then hit somebody else and all that heavy traffic it's just miraculous but it was because i was distracted and i learned my lesson in a very dramatic way and i'm very fortunate in that it didn't it was much much worse but i thank you for this effort you're making  education is important calling attention to the problem in every way that you can as you're doing here this morning that's important there is i do have a question about you know and you alluded to it in that sometimes the the police and the law enforcement say that they you know they they're overloaded trying to handle the rapes and the murders and all that and they really in the past haven't had as much interest maybe is as they should have about trying to enforce the laws against the use of the cell phone and things like that do you what do you think we can do to get more support from the law enforcement community on this well i think we'll have it mr duncan i think that law enforcement is very concerned about this they know that this is a serious issue and they are the ones that investigate serious accidents and see people that are injured and and so i think we'll have their support did you have good participation in your summit from the law in florida law enforcement are very interested in this and they're example of that is you know as well as i do in the old days maybe when there weren't point zero eight laws and there wasn't as much attention on drunk driving you know maybe law enforcement didn't look at it as seriously but i can tell you now that  policeman comes up on somebody whose blood alcohol level is above the legal limit there they're arrested they take these things seriously because it's in the law and they're charged with the responsibility of really in forcing these laws and i believe they will take that responsibility seriously you made a good point about the point zero eight when i first started practicing law in the early seventy's the  limit in tennessee and in most states was point one five and then because of the action by this committee all the states lowered their thresholds and that's that's important in that we have met success with those types of actions and so i will support those types of actions in regard to the to this problem as well and i thank you very much things taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us this morning  to secretary la hood's time and if you would prefer if i could wait till the third panel to make that opening statement that's fine with me but if i may just as secretary la hood thank you very much for being here i just want to  commend you on your your comments with respect to driver's ed and that is one of two bills that i am working on an effort to standardize and modernize our driver's ed curriculum and it really is i found shocking to learn that fifteen states do not require any form of basic driver education for teen drivers nine hundred states don't require any form of classroom training before licensing and we have not updated our driver's ed curriculum since the one nine hundred forty s all i welcome your comments i look forward to working with you and i as i say i'm working on legislation that would address these issues mr chairman also if i may request unanimous consent to place into the record miles on our car and i think you told me the age of one of your cars is about the age of one of mine and you know i've seen i'm sure i've seen everything you seen from everything from people now watching television driving down the road at go by quickly it was a young lady driving the car changing her clothes while driving and at that time she had her sweater off the top of her head driving down the road about seventy miles plus miles an hour and you know and i've also been trying to instill in our kids daughters are seventeen and sixteen and one has been driving about a year and a half our youngest daughter who is sixteen is finishing up her driver's education right now in ohio and in ohio several years ago when i was a legislature we change a law that you had to have fifty hours with your parent in the car before you get that license i voted for that bill i helped the sponsor on it i was on the committee and the case that i never realized how long fifty hours is with your kids in the car it's a long time but it really shows to me that you know younger kids need that i remember when i got my driver's license years ago i drove home i mean i went down to and would you agree that you know from the studies especially one that we saw all of that earlier that with texting and talking on the phone there's a different feeling than reading a different things right now i know how passionate you are about all distracted but would you say that the one especially with just on the texting right now and speaking on phones might be more different than some of the other ones right now well mr latta i don't want to hear this but i think all these things are a distraction i really do i'm not going to give up on this idea texting is a is is epidemic particularly among young people but look at in washington d c talking on a cell phone is illegal now when i drive around washington which i do in my nine hundred ninety eight buick i see i see everyone just about everyone on a cell phone and i know that they can't be driving safely when they're doing  that and it's just a follow up of that mr secretary you know i guess one of the things that you mention that you've driven you've been up and detroit and seen the vehicles now that are being produced that you can use more hands free but it's it's almost to the point a more are we are going to be even be able to stop it i doubt it because even though you know we've we've passed very restrictive drunk driving laws i served as the chairman of the judiciary committee in the house senate when i was in the legislature which serve the criminal justice in the house year after year we had bill after bill after bill of dealing with drunk driving but you know we haven't been able to get that under control but we're doing you know hopefully we're instilling folks a major penalties but at the same time you know if we're able to get vehicles out there that can allow people you know to use some of these devices hands free in my pain and that's that's that's a much better thing to do because again folks are still playing with their radios they're still playing with their c d s and there's a lot of things in the car hundred forty one bills in one session and but i just think that and i know i understand what you're saying that you believe that all of distraction but would you just say again though if you can make something safer when she agreed that's the way to go well i'll say this i will say that ten years ago i'm sure people never thought we'd get to where we're at with point oh wait because you know as well as i do in the old days police used to you know put a somebody in a police car and drive them home or give him a pat on the back and say you know go on home but we have because of strong advocacy groups because of good laws by congress because a very good enforcement and the same is true of clicker ticket i some money and that works at d o t told me recently they got a ticket in washington d c for not having their seatbelt on and i think it's like a fifty dollar ticket so mr ladd i'm not going to give up on the idea that all of these things are a distraction i'm not the cade on any kind of distraction whether strange planes or automobiles distractions were to figure out a way to cell phones texting and all other laptops out of the hands of people who are delivering the public to somewhere safely and in light of what happened with respect to the pilots who overflew their checkpoints are you advocating for a ban of cellphone use or operators of planes and trains uplink there was a train in los angeles that the driver or the operator was texting while driving that is this is the goal of we we have we have put out a restriction now that in enforcement that train drivers are not allowed to use cell phones and blackberries they're not allowed to absolutely the the two pilots that flew the plane from san francisco and over flew minneapolis their licenses have been revoked by the f a a they have an appeal process that they can follow pilots who are flying hundreds of people over one hundred people from one point to another when those people get on the plane they think they're going to get there safely the last thing they want to hear is that the pilot had their laptop checking their schedules trying to figure out when the next time is they were going to work and that's why their licenses were revoked there's three investigations going on one by the f a a one by delta and one by the n t s b we cannot allow this to happen people who drive school buses light rail trains airplanes automobiles should not be distracted by anything it's it's already legal illegal to drink and drive it's already illegal to be distracted while you're driving how do you how do you propose the mechanisms to enforce these types of regulations personal responsibility education and in force women good laws with tough penalties point zero eight proves we can get there we're not there yet but we can it's not perfect people are still killed by drunk drivers and injured by drunk drivers but we made progress click it or ticket if you don't have a seatbelt on you get a ticket if you do have it on you probably  have a pretty good chance of not being injured or killed if you get an accident so i say let's let's really upgrade driver education for particularly for first time drivers sixteen year olds you know when my i have four grown children when they started driving they all took driver education i lived in fear i think every one of them had an accident fortunately it wasn't serious but they never talked even back in those days about fastening a seatbelt now they do  we need to get him to talk about putting their cellphones away there's ways to do these things point zero eight and click it or ticket proves that we can do it it's not perfect but we're going to get there we're at the starting point there's quite a few people tragically that are killed by folks who get behind the wheel or get behind a train or what other public transit vehicle and they they're tired and they haven't had enough sleep can you speak to that and well after the colgan air crash in buffalo we conducted twelve safety summits around the country looking at regional jets which i know many of you fly for fourteen years i flew one from peoria to chicago in order to get out here and during those hearings twelve hearings we had around the country we talked about having regional jet pilots fly from one part of the country to the other part of the country and then start their job and the fatigue involved in that we talked about training we're going to put out a report and we're we're looking at this very seriously we also look at that in terms of hours of service for truck drivers and we're addressing that you're going to you're going to make certain that all this will be based on sound research and that every decision that will make regarding public transit will be back absolutely recall that we have we have one of the best research departments at d o t we've just brought some great people on we do a lot of research our safety organization called nitsa does a lot of good research it'll be based on sound research yes sir thank you thank you m interest in this this particular issue and and i know some states have already addressed that are you encouraging states to pass some kind of restrictive laws or do you are you looking for congress to pass federal oh yeah well look we don't have to give much encouragement to states eighteen states have done it in all different forms and fashions and as i said earlier they are the incubator for good ideas our work will really be with with congress working with all of you on the way forward for finding the right legislation and we can do some things on our own the president did sign an executive order we've told all of our people from from this day forward starting a few weeks ago that they can't use their cell phones and blackberries and text particularly since many of them are government issued so we can do some things in the apartment we want to work with congress and the states will be doing their own thing i don't i know that the the washington d c already has you know a ban on then and we we have a statistic to prove that before and highway conditions and i know that we've been talking about the reauthorization bill and we're going to move on that could you give us some it is about to when we move we could expect then the highway reauthorization bill well as you know we have recommended an eighteen month extension not many people around capitol hill paid much attention to that since now it looks like they'll be an extension through maybe december twelfth or something like that that's what we've been hearing anyway and but look at the president wants a very strong comprehensive robust transportation bill he believes in it we believe in it we believe it can make a difference we believe it'll put people to work but we also believe we've got to find for five hundred billion dollars to pay for it because that's probably what it takes to have the kind of bill that we all want that you want that we want we need some time to do that to put together a good bill and to find the money to do it so from our end we're pushing for a an eighteen month extension ok well i would hope that we could maybe close the gaps on monday oh and to south carolina we've got a bubble twelve percent unemployment i think we're pushing a ten percent unemployment around the nation and we all know that building roads have direct effect of putting people to work so i would hope somehow that we could all work together and then look at mr brown i know that there's probably not a person on this committee that agrees with us on this mr de fazio reminds me of that every time i see him and so does chairman over star and but it's not because we don't want to good bill a strong bill a comprehensive bill we want that we think the bill that mr over starr and all of you have written is  youngsters are you by chance working with the automobile industry to try to develop some technology or mechanisms to be able to address some of the things that have been discussed here including the  breathalyzer something to the effect that would drive the automobile which bans any electronic ways going on and warn the driver about texting or phone use something that would help and add to enhance the ability for that driver to remember that illegal to do so when you talk about the issue of distracted driving i think that that should be part of some of the state being able to ask their law enforcement agencies to include not necessarily putting on lipstick smoking is also a distraction i had an individual that worked with me that dropped the cigarette and as he was reaching for down and below his feet he ended up hitting another car so there are many things that cause accidents and how do we get the information disseminated whether it's to the public to the car users or to be in  the manuals that they're given when they purchase a car all those areas that we're really going to be serious about this we need to be ensure we hit every single area that we can well i just spent two days in detroit congresswoman and i spent half a day with each of the american car manufacturers chrysler ford and g m and i just had the c e o mr henderson from g m in our office a few days ago every chance i got i asked them for their help on distracted driving we need your help either in advertising that you do or in technology that you're looking at many of them are ready you have technology for hands free types of opportunities but i will tell you this as i've said earlier i think it's a distraction but they're committed to working with us on this and they're committed to safety that's one of their top priorities so we've had lots of discussions with them and i know they will continue well even a pamphlet or some kind of indicator inside a packet when the purge is not real to remind people these are things that could conceivably lead them to unfortunate accident the other area is in regard to the statistics that might be available from the states that have bans on of handheld devices do you get stats back from them from law enforcement so that we have a better picture of whether it's working driving some are some are different than others but we're as i said we're the states are the incubators we're going to we're going to look at what states have done we're going to provide that information to the congress as a way to say this is what states have done  and work with all of you on the way forward for legislation do you have any future concept of working with the cable industry to be able to do it as a public service announcement to remind people especially youngsters and families who have youngsters that some of these distractions that they're not even thinking about the only thing they can think of is a cell phone all of the safety groups we're at our summit we're working with the national safety council in a number of other groups who have a great deal of interest in distracted driving they're going to be very helpful to us when we figure out exactly what we want to say there is a public service message that's been put up aready that's running and on the air about distracted we have put out an enforcement that people that drive trains are prohibited from using cellphones i thank you for that then mr question for the secretary as i read your testimony and you talked about the summit and i believe in here it says together with over three hundred experts and safety transportation research regulatory affairs and law enforcement  participated and it's said that young people you know kind of gave their stories i'd like to take a little different spin than some of the comments that i've heard today realistically we live in the twenty first century and i don't think i could be wrong but i don't think we're not going to have g p s systems i don't think we're not going to have blackberries and phones i think we're kind of there and so my question would be slightly different what can we do to work with the various industries to i don't see where everyone's going to put their blackberry and put it in the glove compartment i think that that would be great but i don't know if that's really realistic of what's going to happen and so i'd like to suggest another alternative what can we do and i think some industries have members who are listening and hearing and texting at the same time so what do you think about that and i do support all of the how we can do things better so i'm not in opposition to that i'm just saying what about that other  let me just say when people first started working on point zero eight and seat belt laws people said it couldn't be done you're not going to get drunk drivers off the road you're not going to get people to wear seatbelts it's a way of life for us now though and so i think we can get there i do think it takes a while to get there but the specific answer to your question the wireless industry participated in our safety summit  was with the chairman of the yesterday at the senate hearing their committee and i agreed that we're going to get a group of people together to figure out how to make these devices i guess  thank you mr chairman i'm not sure what more can be added other than to say i think it's important that aside from all the votes that we take here in congress and legislation we can push probably one of the most powerful things that we each have is our respective bully pulpit and as demonstrated by states and by demonstrated by the district of columbia and other municipalities that have passed bans on texting but also the longest bans are on cell phone usage and i would argue many of them have not been too effective in getting people to stop using their cell phones and i think what is essential and i'm glad to hear the secretary talk about it this morning is education because as you mentioned chairman fazio the you tube video anybody who has seen that of the crash with the young people there you can't help but be affected and i think it really makes you reflect on your own habits and the own decisions that you're making allowing yourself to be distracted whether it's texting eating talking to your kids or whatever it might be that is diverting your attention so i would just say i commend the secretary for making this an issue certainly more people are talking about it because of your leadership because of the work of your your department i commend you for that want to work with you  will support legislation here to do something similar to what other municipalities and states have done but i really believe the most important component is for all of us to become missionaries for the cause but also that there be a public awareness campaign of the true risks  so that young people can understand all people actually i would i would argue as one of the younger members one of the reasons why young people are more at risk because they tend to like their technology and use it more frequently but i think i is some of our more senior members the population get comfortable with the technology though they'll begin multitasking as well with text messaging but to your point it's it's putting on your makeup is eating a hamburger any of that and we really need a  strong public awareness campaign nationally to help drill that into the minds of people that to make wise choices so look forward to working with the ana and i appreciate the chairman having this meeting thank you thank  mr chairman and thank you for holding this hearing of the secretary thank you very much for being here and for your leadership in this area forgive me if this question was already asked but are there any national statistics out there with respect to number of automobile accidents caused as a result of taxing as opposed to d w i or alcohol related we'll get those for you ok you in the second point that i want to make is it's been a few years since i was a prosecutor but one of the things that that i recognized was that as a result of the public outcry  law enforcement agencies did much more with respect to the enforcement and the prosecutors did much more with respect to the prosecution that happened not only with d w i where there was also the incentive with respect to the fines and then the you know the prosecutors would would look at additional fine money for the police agencies to put more police on the street more prosecutors but additionally as the outcry developed we would we would never think twice about not trying to get the maximum for somebody to pass the school bus  and yet you know there was this idea that well it's just a cell phone or it's just taxing and it's been a again it's been a few years so i know things have changed but i think your idea about pushing to get the idea out there that this is a major cause will be critically important and my other suggestion is get the prosecutors on board as well because they're the ones that make the you know we give the police doing all the things that they need to but without tough fines by the  prosecutors you know they're just not going to stick on the other end i really agree with that particularly on point oh wait i think when the laws were passed and it became the standard prosecutors really have made the difference because that really gets in the newspaper then and then people really see that it's being taken seriously it's not just a slap on the hand or a slap on the back and see you later or whatever in the last thing this from a an ex prosecutor's perspective the last thing a prosecutor wants is t have let somebody go on a prior taxing offense with a slap on the wrist and then they cause an accident on it in the future so i think is that message gets out the prosecutors as well as law enforcement i think that will greatly strengthen it in any incentive you can put commend the focus on younger drivers when i was in the state house and we adopt a similar state laws as my colleague reference about fifty hours with an adult and things it was staggering to see that the greatest threat to a sixteen or seventeen year old losing his or her life was in a car accident and so the focus here and combine that stat that already existed prior to tex being and cell phones add the challenge of being a good driver with texting cellphones with a young inexperienced driver and we truly have a great threat to our youth out there is there any consideration to supporting federal legislation as a starting point to follow the lead of some states where we do ban any cell phone user or texting by eighteen and under i know some of said twenty one or under twenty one and the reason i suggest that specifically is because of data about young drivers and that we all have learned behavior and you know my boys are ten and thirteen now they have never been in a car that they weren't strapped in starting with their baby seat then their booster you know car seat now received so they get in a car it's automatic and it's great because they get in the car and my mom a different generation and she doesn't immediately put her seatbelt on i guarantee i want to make sure she does so they learn that behavior and it's going to stay with them the rest of their lives and so if we target that younger group that we know is more at risk to begin with and then it's a learned behavior to not do something in essence with the administration consider supporting that well i mean i think your point is a good point and it's not one i've heard but it's not one i've heard during these hearings but i i know exactly what you're saying about your own children because i've been admonished by my grandchildren who have been in seatbelts all of their lives that you need to put your seatbelt on and that that is a great example one i'm going to continue to use from here on out because i do think these learned behaviors at a young age really can make a difference and so that i think that's a great point and if far as what we're going to support we're going to work with all of you and figure out the best way forward is to try and see what the states have done that really has worked and then incorporated in what you all want to do here in the house and senate thank you michelle tara and again appreciate you in the department taking the lead on a very challenging and life and death issue out the but you said i never thought we'd get to where we are now on point eight point zero eight percent on blood alcohol content do you believe that it was the imposition of sanctions that got us to that point well i believe it was education educating people the drunk drivers injure and kill people i think it was tough penalties in our state if you get picked up for drunk driving they don't send you home they don't give you the police don't give you a ride home they put you in jail they take away your license for three months and you have to pay tough penalties and you have to go to counseling that's like for the first offense now you know when i when i was growing up or you know even a few years ago you know what would happen the police would throw you in the back of the car take you home give you a pat on the back and that doesn't happen anymore and so it's a combination of a lot of things mr bishop and that's why i say solving this texting is a combination will take a combination of good education personal responsibility and strong enforcement if i may i'm in full agreement with what you just said if i may it does appear though that there is a very clear track record that when we impose sanctions as a those two incentives that we get the kind of compliance we were hoping for i mean for example a minimum drinking age every state every state complies as a result of sanctions zero alcohol tolerance in one thousand nine hundred five every state complies commercial driver's license law every state when we do something like child safety and booster seat incentive grants so far only five states have come into compliance beyond those that were already in compliance when we did primary seat belt law incentives so far only ten states have come into compliance in addition to the nine hundred states that already were in compliance so it seems to me that we have a pretty clear history that sanctions are more effective at bringing about the kind of behavior we all find that did not henry did they got a republican to do a very bipartisan you'll find there is some substantial unanimity among members of this committee that we need a long term of or they should thank you mr secretary glad you didn't pass up the opportunity jr chairman the governor's highway safety administration doctor tom being is director of virginia tech transportation institute will make his second appearance mr bobby franklin executive vice president c t i a more mr randy mullet vice president government relations and public affairs conway inc mr robert strasburg or vice president of safety and harmonization alliance of automobile manufacturers and mr edward thought ok all right we're going to ask you to i have read all your testimonies whom other members have we're going to ask you do summarize your best points or if you're familiar with other members of the panel and their position in particular i would note that there is disagreement over  sort of gradations of problems with distracted driving and electronic devices and one member of the panel asserts quite definitively that even boys actuate cell phones are as bad as handheld cell phones or others and anybody wants to address that because that will be an ongoing concern to the committee thank you so recognized for up to two minutes to summarize and then we'll try and get into questions a little interaction among the ranking member duncan and members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to testified today to discuss the important issue of distracted driving and thank you for giving national attention to distracted driving and also to highway safety in general that's very important to all of us and i am vern i'm betting on the chairman of the governor's highway safety association and i'm maryland's highway safety coordinator as well and i'm also representing today the american association of state highway and transportation officials as the governor's highway safety association is a nonprofit organization that represents state highway safety agencies the g s a is very concerned about distracted driving and believes that the problem is only going to worsen in the future particularly as new technologies are developed and brought into the vehicle while we are grateful for the attention being paid to this serious highway safety problem we submit that the problem cannot be solved any and ackman of legislation alone we adamantly suggest a comprehensive approach that includes data and research legislation education and forstmann and adjudication employer policies technology and funding further we suggest that both the federal and state governments have a strong role to play and each of these areas the federal government to ensure that states take action based on solid research and data best practices and model policies and they can also ensure that they develop appropriate training for law enforcement and the judiciary construct media campaigns that can be implemented by the state and evaluate technology that will control or manage distractions in vehicles the states can enact and enforce appropriate legislation implement community based education campaigns and work with employers and together and with adequate funding federal and state governments can work to minimize distractions maximize public safety and reduce crashes deaths and associated injuries on the nation's highways and that conclu thank you mr chairman ranking member member duncan and members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity testified before you today on this important topic my name is tom davis i'm from virginia tech testifying before you today as a twenty five year veteran of driving safety research for several important points that must be carefully considered in determining an appropriate action to this growing problem first our research has shown that the distraction issues that we face today are much different than those we faced just a few years ago and consequently are resulting in a growing number of crashes texting typing reading and dialing are much much worse than eating tuning a radio or talking second are driving distraction problem is particularly time critical because a number of crashes involving complex tasks is growing exponentially third while safety benefits can be realized with the deployment of electronic devices these benefits can only be attained in vehicles engineered to minimize driver distraction fourth teen drivers by far represent the largest population of those who engage in complex tasks while they drive and consequently at greatest risk with the problem of driver distraction associated with electronic devices is multi dimensional requiring multiple solutions specifically major differences exist between devices that are designed to be used in the vehicle and portable devices that are carried by consumers into vehicles in conclusion driving distraction associated with electronic devices is creating a serious rapidly growing public health risk however measured action is warranted so that solutions and acted with good intent do not stifle improvements in traffic safety therefore i recommend the following approach won a national primary law banning the use of handheld wireless devices in a moving vehicle to regulations limiting functionality of visually demanding in vehicle devices in a moving vehicle including trucks third broadly applied standards for testing of potentially distracting devices prior to market introduction thank you very much thank you sir mr franklin mr chairman and members of the subcommittee on behalf of and our wireless industry members thank you for the opportunity to be here with more than two hundred eighty million subscribers connected just about anywhere at any time the wireless industry recognizes that being always available can have a downside when you're responsible drivers manually text and email while behind the wheel when a driver takes their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel to sind or read a text or email their actions are not compatible with safe driving to help solve this problem c g i advocates for three components legislation technology and education we believe this strategic combination is most likely to deliver the results we all desire safer drivers and safer roads first on legislation c g i has been working with the national conference of state legislatures to craft model legislation that could be adopted across the country that prohibits manual texting and e mailing while driving however as secretary la hood has noted we won't make this problem go away simply by passing laws second i believe technology will continue to improve safety through new apps changes in cars even the roads themselves it is important technology be effective and consumer friendly but also the legislation not freeze innovation in place with inflexible mandates finally third and we believe the most important component to changing behavior is education earlier this year j partner with the national safety council to develop the on the road off the phone campaign aimed at educating teen drivers and their parents about the dangers of distracted driving we believe this p s a is impactful and i'm proud that so many  thanks again for the opportunity to be here as you have just seen the wireless industry continues to demonstrate our commitment to changing this behavior thank you sir and progeny and properly so  although just as a bit of research communication and advocacy for the national safety council chairman de fazio ranking member dot gov and members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to speak about the dangers of distracted driving use of cell phones earlier this year the c became the first national organization to cough or bans on all cell phone use while driving as an employer organization we did that based on the risk and on the exposure we estimate there are one hundred million people in the united states who engage in this risky behavior more than seventy five research studies have shown that using a phone while driving is dangerous multiple studies of establish that the risk of cell phone use while driving increases the risk of a crash by four times more than thirty research studies have shown that there's no safety benefit from hands free devices now there are three principal distractions from cellphone use the first two are visual taking your eyes off the road and mechanical taking your hands off the wheel and that's clearly what happens when people are or reading or sending email and those are of great concern to us the third cognitive distraction taking your mind off the road is also a great concern brain scan imagery shows that up to thirty seven percent of the brain that should be engaged in driving is lost while you're talking on a cell phone so one effect is that people on cell phones can have their eyes straight ahead on the road but they truly do not see vehicles or pedestrians were taking a multifaceted approach to the problem including legislation enforcement education technology and employer policies we know that strong was visibly in force are the most effective method to change behavior we know a total ban on cell phone use is necessary because cell phone conversations are causing the largest number of crashes we're reaching out to law enforcement to encourage enforcement pilots that would demonstrate that cell phone laws can be enforced we're developing educational initiatives such as the one that my associate from c just showed you to reach teens and their parents we're working with companies to develop technologies that manage incoming and outgoing calls and messages we've called on employers to act in more than four hundred sixty of our member companies including commercial carriers bus companies and some of the world's largest and smallest companies have put in total bans on cell phone use by all of their employees covering one point five million employees today we encourage the congress to enact or encourage states the passed strong laws banning cell phone use while driving and we are certain encourage the congress to support research that will quantify the number of deaths and injuries that are being caused by both handheld and hands free conversations thank you again for the opportunity discuss this issue  chairman of fazio ranking member duncan members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the american trucking associations on distracted driving a p a recognizes that a driver's ability to perform multiple cognitive tasks simultaneously is extremely limited our membership agrees that the use of some technologies particularly handheld electronic devices has increased the potential for driver distraction beyond the benefits derived from their use in fact the majority of fleets including conway have policies and procedures in place to limit their use while the truck is moving we believe that a systematic approach is necessary to ensure that the use of these devices does not contribute to crashes eight supports legislation to ban the practice of reading writing or sending a text message on a hand held mobile device while driving specifically would support the anti texting provisions contained in the alert drivers act of two thousand and nine as introduced in the senate i believe that the companion is miss mccarthy's bill she spoke about this morning however other strategies are needed to bolster federal and state law public attitudes and perceptions will need to change and any legislation will have to apply to all drivers on the highway in addition to effective legislation and regulation we need to significant public education after effort exploration into the use of technology to reduce distractions caused by technology tough penalties and effective enforcement of the laws and proper funding of these initiatives eighty eight believes that efforts to regulate the use of vehicle communication devices other than handheld units used for texting should be done through the regulated regulation not legislation in cab fleet communication systems have been used in the trucking industry for many years these systems help drivers to perform their job safely effectively and efficiently because of the special characteristics of in cab communication in the way these technologies are used in the trucking industry today detailed analysis and public comment as required of restrictions are being considered the efficiency and safety benefits of in cab communication technologies should not be lost but they can be reasonably restrictive mr chairman eighty eight looks forward to working with chairman turning directly to the matter at hand alliance members are committed to advancing motor vehicle safety and we take concerns about driver distraction seriously from step one we engineer new vehicle information and communication systems telematics systems to help the driver perform their primary task the safe operation of their car truck we do this by engineering these systems according to our driver focus telematics guidelines these guidelines address the essential safety aspects of driver interaction with visual manual interfaces with the goal being to maximize size on the road it is a rare crash that occurs while a driver's eyes are on the roadway when a drivers eyes are not the risk of a crash increases looking away from the road scene is the principal contributor to crashes and near misses but we are not stopping there automakers are working on important safety enhanced since right now that use wireless communications in the near future cars will be linked wirelessly to other cars near them and with their surroundings to further enhance safety plan for when drivers of have are hazards in situations they can see real time navigation will also be provided which will be critical to advancing how we manage congestion and even further reducing c o two emissions so what should be done we need appropriate laws with high visibility enforcement we need consumer education about these laws and to support law enforcement activities and further to educate drivers about the drifts of driving distracted finally we need continued research so that we can further understand driving behaviors to enable the development of ever safer systems and all of this should be done without severing the wireless communication link to big goals which enables tomorrow's safety and environmental benefits mr chairman that concludes my state safety of our highways more than the men and women who drive for a living and to truly combat distracted driving we we believe we must ban text messaging and limit the use of other communication devices however new policies must strike the balance between safety and the unique concerns and working environment of transportation workers for many of our members of vehicle as their workplace and communication devices are critical to performing their functions transportation workers need access to communication devices for everything from emergency situations to communicating with an employer and first responders rely on communication devices to respond effectively and efficiently the reason we're here to days because our roads are far too dangerous we concur with that and because of this year time that drivers that i represent spend on the road they witness accidents all the time they are often the first or only person available to alert the authorities so we must be sure they are able to help perform that function and this requires access to a cell phone or other device clear policies are needed let me give you an example in some states bus drivers are allowed to use cell phones in emergencies as long as the driver stop and off the bus but a competing policy forbids bus drivers from leaving the bus even in the event of emergency these two directives are obviously at odds and that's bad public policy but setting that question aside it illustrates the need to examine the real world consequences of policy making and to make sure that you enlist the employees of this industry and their unions in advancing any ideas you might put forward employees in other sectors the economy can use a phone for occasional personal use and family emergencies but of course for transportation workers whose workplace is their vehicle the situation is different because they're required to be in their vehicle all day a ban would prevent drivers from making calls that you and i take for granted so while this may not be a policy concern for policy leaders employers must take notice of this problem bus drivers taxi cab drivers vehicles for hire and others rely on citizens band radio g p s devices and other technologies to do their jobs and if limits are imposed the implications for workers must be understood because workers are required by their employers to use these devices and the penalties for using devices on the job must be directed at the employers not the employees and for firefighters and paramedics cellphones and p d s are essential the last thing we want to do is take away a tool for these emergency responders when they're en route to an emergency as we want be sure that the regulations understand those  unique situations lastly as you move forward we ask that you recognize the role that mobile communication devices play in our sector and that we look very carefully at public policy ideas and understand the real world implications for workers and hopefully through their unions we can advocate the right the right balance thank you for inviting us today thank you will proceed to questions i guess the one major issue in contention that like any and all members of the panel to address is this a disagreement over the issue of cognitive distraction just by engaging in a conversation on a cell phone even if it's conversation but mr franklin would say that that would be as or dangerous as other cell phone based activity handheld i don't know if it goes far as say the dangerous is texting what sort of you know how people would would approach that so anybody want to jump in on that i mean dr dan has he done a lot of work on you've done what they call naturalistic studies they have done some cognitive m r i based or other studies and i off the road for example some of these tasks require eyes to be off the road for four or five seconds if you're engaged in an intense cell phone conversation the best data we have is your reaction time is delayed by three tenths of a second so it is in effect but it's about one tenth the effect of taking your eyes off the road for some of the video that i showed so it's not that there's no effect but it's much much less else why jump in on that issue yes or i would like to address that while the risk shelling from dr deng is the studies why the risk associated with taking your hands off the wheel in your eyes off the road are significant the duration of those activities is much shorter than the duration of conversations a conversation people may be engaged in a conversation during most of the one hour commute for example yet the actual time they spent dialing the phone or taking their eyes off the road would be much smaller and we think it's the duration of the conversations and the total exposure that actually causes the conversations to cause more crashes rather than the taking the eyes off the road and the hands out the wheel it's really the combination of risk and exposure if i  one study that i'm aware of it was a study conducted by on star published in peer reviewed journal called risk analysis that looked at three million drivers and ninety one million minutes of cell phone usage there the average conversation was on the order of two minutes where the carrier rounded up by one minute so these converse drivers are able to self regulate and it appears from the buddies  the naturalistic studies that say that's exactly what they're doing if i could just follow up on it if it's the intensity of the conversation and the duration that's a factor i really don't understand how having a pastor sitting next to you and having an intense conversation or argument with them wouldn't be equally dangerous and that and that science has shown that's clearly clearly very different because the in fact a passenger very often is is a coach driver and an adult passenger in particulars is seeing the road in front of them and helping the driver manipulate navigate those situations that is not the case when you're talking on a cell phone and there's been numerous studies that have shown the difference and in fact  adult passengers are a safety benefit people get in fewer crashes adults getting fewer crashes with adult passengers now that's not the case of course with teenagers where passengers are clearly a distraction ok anybody else have an opinion on this  this aspect of the issue ok with that miss duncan stepped out for a moment we there are there is a vote but they're delaying this vote for some period of time so i'm going to recognize mr bishop now and have to step beck you did the governors association support the twenty one age twenty one drinking age sanction no they did not and now that it is in place does the governor's association recognize that this was this was good public policy it has shown that it has been as it did the governor's association support the point zero eight percent blood alcohol content sanction no they did not and now that that's in place the governors association recognize that that's good public policy it's shown that it has just and i you know i have a bias here obviously  reasonable to think that those laws would have been in place and fully compliant across our fifty states had we not imposed the sanctions  that's a good question mr mitchell i guess the with the sanctions imposed celebrated the timeframe given time the states probably would have come into compliance with incentives has any state ever lost federal highway dollars as a result of their failure or inability to comply with the sanction imposed requirement not to my knowledge so if that's the case is are we dealing with and i'm not this is this is an honest question are we dealing with a philosophical issue are we dealing with an issue that's practical i mean if if if we agree that the public policy that the federal government has tried to put in place has had the kind of outcomes that any reasonable person would support and if we agree that states have never lost dollars as a result of sanctions being imposed what's the what's the the the antipathy to the sanctions i would say that's a philosophical difference from the association the association has never  approved of sanctions we were always more from an incentive side than the sanctions side and remembering to mr bishop that we work for the states that would be sanctioned so be very hard for us to take a position against our own state understand one one last question to association have any statistics on how many lives either have been lost or would have been saved as a result of states that have been lost as a result of states not accepting the incentives associated with the child child booster seat law for example or the primary seat belt law i don't have those statistics with me but we can certainly research and get back to you i would  getting into because of their value to multitask what are your suggestions your not any of you under eighteen so what you have children you have youngsters that you know what do they tell you what what is it that we can do to convince these youngsters the importance of their ability to be cognizant that they are in a death machine if you want to call it that i mean talking about it will kill somebody but it's a possibility it is a vehicle kill themselves and somebody else how do we get that important message to the youngsters in the different areas that you are in congresswoman i'd like to address that if i could a couple of things first of all there's no substitute for good parenting and i must tell you that parents play an important role in managing the risks of their teens and we've seen this in graduated licensing because even if a state doesn't have a perfect graduated licensing line there are states a parent can have a perfect graduated licensing lie in their home and we think parents are critical and parent a lot of parents of teenagers and i have had six myself kno or believe that the kids aren't listening to them but the research is clear that they are that kids do listen to parents so that's certainly the first as parent education and one of the things that we did with c t a in the p s a you saw it's really targeting parents to engage in that conversation so that's the first part the second part is is that it is difficult and we've seen no evidence that general communications to teens which are risk takers telling them about the risks by itself is enough to change their behavior risk takers do not education awareness doesn't make risk takers change their risk levels what does work though are a couple of things we have seen that when teens get together and work in groups and what's called peer to peer programs that those can be effective in peer groups and in some high schools where that has been done and we have seen that that has indeed been very effective and we think that there are in fact some kinds of online and some viral programs that we are testing that we're very optimistic about in terms of not not messages necessarily coming from adults but messages coming from the teens themselves sharing among them and really establishing culture what we would call social norms among teen groups where it's simply not cool to text while driving and if the teens are sharing that message among themselves we think it has a much higher likelihood of success that's a great video but have you considered doing have a youngster develop a peer program interactive virtual reality type thing where they understand their concept of what it means yes as a matter of fact we just gave out some awards this past weekend to a group of kids from minnesota who did exactly that and there are groups around the country of in in high schools and kids who are doing programs among themselves and their own peer groups educator themselves be happy to congresswoman if i may  john just mentioned working with we did the p s a which is he noted was directed at parents we think parents have a lot of sway over their teen drivers and setting the rules but just before the hearing started i hadn't seen john in a couple of weeks because of some of his meetings and we caught up because we've been e mailing back and forth about other components of our campaign meaning we're trying to develop a viral video that would show up where teens are online on you tube places like that that as he says can have teens talking directly to teens to try to make it very uncool to do what it is that they're doing that's so dangerous  feel i know that is an invasion of privacy but would that help being able to keep people from doing things and not post especially if they're banned trying to leave you with the gavel because the votes running down here and i have additional questions i will submit them