House Energy And Commerce Committee Split Over Who Should Regulate Unsafe Driving

By Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

House Energy and Commerce Committee members met with Department of Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, and transportation experts Wednesday, to discuss who- the federal government or states- would be responsible for ensuring drivers avoid text messaging, using cellular phones, and working GPS systems while on the road.

The committee members agreed that distracted driving is dangerous and should be regulated, and some committee members, such as Virgin Island’s Representative Donna Christensen (D-V.I.), even admitted to texting or using their cell phones while driving. However, when it came to the question of who should regulate the rules of the road, the committee split.

Rep. John Shimkus (R- Ill.) put it bluntly: “Distracted driving is bad,” he said. However, he added, “I have never been for the federal government extorting highway funds to obtain some means to an end that should be decided through the state.”

Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) also expressed questions about potentially changing laws, saying he urged his colleagues to create thoughtful, flexible, and “sound” policy.

“Although we share a justified measure of concern about the relationship between use of certain technological devices and driver safety, we have to guard against enthusiastically overly prescriptive statutes… that in the long term may stifle innovation and ultimately show them to be of marginal benefit to the cause of improving driver safety,” he said.

Other representatives, such as Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), said federally mandating laws that would reduce distracted driving may seem “weary,” but said Congress could consider federally mandating public education on distracted driving.

As of last month, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, six states including California, New York, and Oregon, had banned nearly all cell phone use while driving, and 18 states had banned text messaging while driving.