National Highway Traffic Safety Admin withheld research on danger of distracted driving

Today the New York Times is reporting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) withheld important research and cancelled a key planned research project showing the high danger of using cell phones and texting while driving.
In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cellphone use behind the wheel.

But such an ambitious study never happened. And the researchers’ agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress.
The documents are available here.
The former head of the highway safety agency said he was urged to withhold the research to avoid antagonizing members of Congress who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data but not to lobby states.

Critics say that rationale and the failure of the Transportation Department, which oversees the highway agency, to more vigorously pursue distracted driving has cost lives and allowed to blossom a culture of behind-the-wheel multitasking.
Read the rest of the article here.

NHTSA lobbying vs MoDOT lobbying?
Now this reminds us of a situation here in Missouri. Legislators, the Governor, MoBikeFed, and other groups have strongly criticized MoDOT for its efforts to lobby on number of transportation-related issues.

Yet here we are criticizing NHTSA for not speaking up and "lobbying" about the results of its research.

So what is the difference?

That is a complicated topic--so we have given it a full article here:

Why MoDOT lobbying is not good for MoDOT or Missouri, and why political support for bicycling and walking is crucial to help move the state forward.

MoBikeFed supports efforts to reduce distracted driving--which, as this article points out--is one of the primary causes of injuries and fatalities on the nation's roads. Improving safety for all road users is one of the main goals in MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri; supporting legislation and other efforts to reduce distracted driving is one of the planks in MoBikeFed's legislative platform.

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