Phone makers asked to modify devices to cut driver distraction

The voluntary guidelines proposed Wednesday asked device makers to take steps such as blocking some video displays and preventing manual text entry while vehicles are under way.

"As millions of Americans take to the roads for Thanksgiving gatherings, far too many are put at risk by drivers who are distracted by their cellphones," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "These commonsense guidelines, grounded in the best research available, will help designers of mobile devices build products that cut down on distraction on the road."

Among the ways the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said manufacturers can meet the guidelines is to create a "driver mode" that limits functions when a vehicle's transmission moves to "drive" from "park." It said maps could continue to be displayed on a phone for navigation.

The Consumer Technology Association, a trade group whose members include top smartphone makers Apple and Samsung Electronics, characterized the guidelines as "extreme."

"This regulatory overreach could thwart the innovative solutions and technologies that help drivers make safer decisions from ever coming to market," Gary Shapiro, president of the Arlington, Virginia-based trade group said in an emailed statement. "NHTSA doesn't have the authority to dictate the design of smartphone apps and other devices used in cars -- its legal jurisdiction begins and ends with motor vehicle equipment."

Shapiro called the proposed guidelines an "attempt by the outgoing administration to push out highly questionable, de facto regulations" before the administration of President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

CTIA, a trade group for wireless companies including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., criticized the proposal as "the wrong approach for consumers."

"A regulatory path" can't keep pace with efforts to reduce distractions "whether they arise from interacting with mobile or embedded devices or other activities like eating," Tom Power, general counsel for the Washington-based trade group, said in an e-mailed message.

The response from carmakers, which have been criticized for adding electronic distractions to vehicles, was more positive. Ford Motor Co. is still reviewing the proposal but is "encouraged NHTSA is looking at multiple factors beyond the vehicle to address driver distraction," said Elizabeth Weigandt, a spokeswoman for the automaker.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, with members including Ford, General Motors and Toyota, "will carefully review these guidelines," Wade Newton, a spokesman for the trade group, said in an email.

"It's important to encourage drivers to use in-vehicle systems rather than handheld personal electronic devices that were not engineered for use in the driving environment," Newton said.

U.S. highway deaths spiked to 35,092 last year in the highest one-year increase since 1966, the Transportation Department said in September. It attributed the 7.2 percent increase in highway deaths to more driving, drunk driving, speeding and distraction from phones and other devices.

Last year, 10 per cent of traffic fatalities involved one or more distracted drivers, resulting in an 8.8 per cent increase from distracted-related fatalities a year earlier, the transportation department said Wednesday.

"The problem of distracted driving has grown into an epidemic. These guidelines could help stem the increase in traffic deaths that we've seen in the last two years," said William Wallace, policy analyst for Consumers Union, the policy arm of Consumer Reports. "There also needs to be a much broader effort with everyone -- automakers, tech companies, regulators, and consumers -- playing a role."

NHTSA invited comments on the proposed guidelines. There are currently no safety guidelines for portable device technologies when they are used during driving.

The NHTSA proposal falls short of a complete ban on mobile-device use by drivers favored by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which issues recommendations and can't make rules.

"To reduce crashes, injuries and deaths, drivers must completely disconnect from an increasing variety of deadly distractions," the NTSB said Nov. 14 when it listed the issue as one of its "Most Wanted" safety enhancements.

The NTSB believes that statistics on accidents related to driver distractions undercount the danger because local police departments often don't check after a crash whether devices were in use.

NTSB says research shows the interference with a driver's attention is equal whether the driver is holding the device or not.