NTSB Holding Second Roundtable on Distracted Driving Next Week
The April 26 event is being presented in Wsahington, D.C., in collaboration with Stopdistractions.org, DRIVE SMART Virginia, and the National Safety Council.
The National Transportation Safety Board will host a roundtable on April 26 about the dangers of distracted driving. This is NTSB's second such roundtable and is being presented in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with Stopdistractions.org, DRIVE SMART Virginia, and the National Safety Council.
More than 15 "survivor advocates" of distracted driving crashes are scheduled to join law enforcement officers, insurance industry representatives, safety advocates, and lawmakers at the "Act to End Distracted Driving" roundtable, which is intended to raise public awareness about the problem and establish better coordination among state and local governments, employer fleets, and law enforcement.
NTSB Acting Chairman Robert Sumwalt will moderate the discussion. "Beating distracted driving will take a wholesale change in our driving culture," he said. "The NTSB can't write a recommendation to change our whole driving culture, but we can facilitate action toward doing so."
Nearly 10 percent of traffic deaths involve distracted drivers, representing about 4,000 deaths that are fully preventable, according to NTSB.
"Many participants have already turned a deeply tragic and personal story into positive change," Sumwalt said. "We want to help them share what's working so they can have an even greater effect on transportation safety."
The roundtable is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center; the agenda is available at https://go.usa.gov/x5aC9. It says the final discussion, about available resources, will cover resources from both the National Safety Council and NTSB.
The event is also scheduled to be webcast live.