LaHood Announces Summit on Distracted Driving

By Lisa Hudson

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday he intends to gather senior transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives, members of Congress and academics who study distracted driving for a September 2009 summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss ideas about how to combat distracted driving.

Developments and updates on the upcoming summit are available from the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) website. You also can get developments on Twitter.

“If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren’t always enough,” said Sec. LaHood in a statement. “We’ve learned from past safety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated strategy combining education and enforcement to get results. That’s why this meeting with experienced officials, experts and law enforcement will be such a crucial first step in our efforts to put an end to distracted driving.”