The US Department of Transportation (USDOT), including the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA), brought stakeholders together to address distracted driving challenges.
The Distraction Action Forum hosted by NHTSA is part of the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), the Department’s comprehensive initiative which aims to bring the number of roadway deaths to zero.
“Driving while distracted has become a significant challenge in vehicles, even more so than back in 2010 when USDOT began its Distraction Program,” said Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg.
“Back then most people still had flip phones and cars had buttons and knobs. As technology changes how we interact with our vehicles and our world, this forum will help us do more to help drivers stay engaged in the driving task in modern cars with advanced safety features.”
At the forum, the Department reaffirmed its commitment to addressing roadway fatalities resulting from distraction, discussed how the traffic safety community can reduce distracted driving, and gained insight from experts on NHTSA research, policy, education, and communications activities focused on distraction. These activities advanced new actions captured in the 2024 NRSS Progress Report to develop a distraction research roadmap.
