WASHINGTON-On land and in air, the ever-popular mobile phone-America’s favorite toy in the New Millennium-is creating headaches for government, industry and citizens, and raising serious safety questions with no easy answers.
Last week, federal regulators and lawmakers zeroed in on two growing areas of concern triggered by mobile phones: driver distraction and potential aircraft interference.
For now, anyway, federal regulators and lawmakers do not appear ready to write new rules to address either matter. But they are anxious to learn more about potential dangers to consumers who are spending more and more time on the road and in the sky.
Government and industry officials admit they know little about the science of driver distraction and what role age, gender, fatigue, culture and other factors play.
The two issues provoked a mix of rhetoric, putting the wireless industry on the hot seat. For an industry that will boast 100 million mobile subscribers this week, these are new twists on old problems.
Rude cellular phone users are nothing new. They’re everywhere these days, in restaurants, movie theaters and shopping malls. Though an annoyance, it does not present a safety risk like driver distraction.
Mobile phones, too, have been proven to interfere with medical devices and electronic equipment in vehicles. In some cases, there are practical solutions. The possibility of interference from a mobile phone in an airplane dramatically raises the stakes, however.
“NHTSA’s consumer information will now include advice that growing evidence suggests using a wireless phone or other electronic devices while driving can be distracting and drivers should not talk on the phone or use other devices while their vehicles are in motion,” said Rosalyn Millman, deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at an all-day meeting at the Department of Transportation last Tuesday.
But Millman said safety warnings from government are not enough to reduce the threat of car accidents caused by mobile-phone-talking drivers. She said the wireless industry, automobile manufacturers, government and the public have a role in reducing digital driver distraction.
Despite losing her 21-year-old daughter and a friend of the daughter’s in an automobile accident caused by a driver talking on a mobile phone, Joyce White, a registered Florida nurse, does not advocate a mobile-phone-driving ban as do some U.S. cities and states. In a few local communities, such bans have been enacted.
Instead, White recommended state laws mandating that data be collected in police crash reports of whether mobile phones and telematics were in use prior to accidents. In addition, White called for continued research and more education. Others agreed.
However, if such measures prove ineffective in remedying driver distraction, White said a legislative ban on the use of digital devices by drivers should be considered.
“My daughter’s death demonstrates how lethal driving and telematics can be,” said White.
Wireless and auto industry representatives said legislative bans are unnecessary and counterproductive, given the safety benefits that mobile phones, navigation systems and telematics provide.
“It’s time to reach beyond legislation to education,” said Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. At the same time, Wheeler stated, “No phone call is worth a life.”
Wheeler said that in addition to the association’s aggressive driver-safety ad campaign, CTIA-certified phones flash a safety reminder when turned on and all phones are designed for hands-free use.
But NHTSA officials, pointing to their own research and that of others, countered that hands-free devices do not necessarily reduce distraction. Cell-phone conversations, federal regulators and others explained, put a cognitive demand on drivers that takes away from their primary responsibility of driving.
Frances Bents, vice president and general manager of Dynamic Research Inc., said the mobile-phone industry is not doing enough to address driver distraction.
“Have we ever heard industry say, `Hang up and drive,’ ” said Bents, who helped NHTSA write a 1997 report on dangers posed by talking on a mobile phone while driving.
Auto and wireless industry speakers said they are responding to increased consumer demand for in-vehicle communications, a response that appeared to irritate NHTSA officials.
When asked how extensive is safety research in the design of wireless in-vehicle components, Brian Gratch, Motorola Inc. marketing director, responded, “We are not directly involved in those user studies.” He added, “There’s a lot of driver education that needs to take place.”
“We need to respond to what customers want,” said Terrence Connolly, director of General Motors Safety Center.
Vann Wilber, director of vehicle safety and harmonization for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said that while consumers are eager to have digital devices accompanying them in cars, “We believe vehicles should be designed to minimize driver distraction.”
The concern about whether mobile phones can interfere with aircraft communications, navigation and other electronic-dependent functions does not carry nearly the same weight as driver distraction.
A May study conducted by Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority is viewed by some as strong proof that mobile phones do pose interference risks to airplanes.
Others argue otherwise.
For the time being, lawmakers, the airline industry and federal regulators are content to keep current restrictions in place.
“It is a remote event. But we want to prevent having a remote event, an accident,” said Thomas McSweeny, associate administrator for regulation and certification for the Federal Aviation Administration, at a hearing of the House transportation subcommittee on aviation last Thursday.
The hearing was called by Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.).
Current rules prohibit the operation of cellular phones during flights, but allow laptop computers, electronic games and other electronic devices that emit unintentional radio-frequency emissions to be used at altitudes of 10,000 feet and above.
Dale Hatfield, chief engineer at the Federal Communications Commission, said the most immediate problem of mobile-phone use on airplanes is that calls from high altitudes can clog up mobile-phone networks on land.
Some lawmakers skewered commercial air-to-ground telephone systems as being expensive and poor quality.
