Bruce Arnolds post on the The Governments suppression of cell phone data

The internet is now filling up with stories on the recent New York Times Article (see previous post) detailing how the government has been suppressing data re the danger of cell phone use and driving since 2003.

It was probably Bruce Arnold of   http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/      and Ray Henke of
http://www.motorcyclists-against-dumb-drivers.com/cell-phones-and-dui-drunk-driving.html
That turned me on to Inattentional Blindness and just how dangerous driving while under the influence of a cell phone is.  Following is Bruces take on the release followed by my response. I wish to reiterate here what I stated in the previous post. THIS IS MORE THAN ABOUT CELL PHONES!

BUSH ADMINISTRATION COVERED UP THE DANGERS OF CELL PHONES
And we hate to say we told you so ... but we told you so!

Bruce on Bikers Rights (August 2009: Special Edition)

Anybody wonder why NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker and NTSB Board Member Kitty
Higgins had nowhere to run this week except out the door? It's because
WE--meaning Robert "RC" Conroy, myself and many other dedicated motorcyclists'
rights activists who have been battling for years against the carnage caused by
drivers immersed in cellphone calls--have made damned sure that when asked the
question "WHAT DID YOU KNOW AND WHEN DID YOU KNOW IT?", their answers if honest

will be damning:

http://tinyurl.com/yog8ke

http://tinyurl.com/m92hpe

We hate to say we told you so, folks, but WE TOLD YOU SO. Click the links
below, and read dozens of accounts of righteous indignation written by
"professional" journalists who have no excuse for their years of denial
regarding this issue. Some of the links are long, and your email software may
break them. If that happens, please don't reply to us claiming "the links don't
work". Instead, copy and paste the broken segments into your browser address
bar, then click Go or hit Enter. If you find that confusing, seek assistance
from the nearest teenager. And be nice about it, as they may soon turn 18 and
either (a) possibly go to war and give their life defending your right to be
computer-illiterate in the Internet Age, or (b) certainly spend what's left of
their life struggling to pay off the $53 trillion in debt and "unfunded
obligations" which--like the untold motorcyclists' and other motorists' deaths
attributable to this cover-up--are a lasting legacy of the George "Du!
bya" Bush Administration:

U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving (may require registration to
read)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/21distracted.html

Documents: Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/nytint/docs/documents-from-the-u-s-department-of-transportation-s-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration/original.pdf

Report: Agency withheld distracted driver research
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gsKtAgd7nPCrDhq2AUGTK9fSdtiAD99IJGS00

Real cell-phone dangers exposed: Using wireless communication devices while
driving
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/07/cell-phone-dangers-using-wireless-communication-devices-while-driving.html

Highway agency wanted total cell phone ban
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32035670/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/

Gov't Wanted Total Cell Phone Ban For Drivers, Report Reveals
http://www.pcworld.com/article/168793/govt_wanted_total_cell_phone_ban_for_drivers_report_reveals.html

Consumer Groups: Gov't Kept Secret The Dangers of Cell Phones
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Travel/story?id=8135393&page=1

Studies Showing Dangers of Cellphone Use while Driving Were Suppressed
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/10233

Government Withheld Important Safety Data Showing Drivers' Hands-Free Cell Phone
Use Is Just as Hazardous as Handheld Use
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2927

Jay Bookman Research on cell-phone-use-while-driving quashed by feds
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/07/21/research-on-cell-phone-use-while-driving-quashed-by-feds/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog

Report: Agency Hid Distracted Driver Stats
http://cbs4.com/consumer/Distracted.Driving.Drivers.2.1095052.html

Driving and cell phones: Why they don't go together
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/wingingit/51337479.html

Agency withheld data on dangers of talking and driving
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090721/cellphone_report_090721/20090721?hub=TopStories

U.S. agency hid cellphone driving risk data: N.Y. Times
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/07/21/cellphone-driving.html

US quashed report on dangers of phone use while driving
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzXBemNwjmj2tu7wIyY0dWqpOnNA

Group Hid Study On Cellphone's Driving Distractions
http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1724351/group_hid_study_on_cellphones_driving_distractions/

and our response:

Re: BUSH ADMINISTRATION COVERED UP THE DANGERS OF CELL PHONES

"and read dozens of accounts of righteous indignation written by "professional" journalists

who have no excuse for their years of denial regarding this issue."

And they are legion. From Radio talk show hosts to MRO leaders to mainstream news media that

focused on NHTSA's Drum Beat re: the perils of riding without a helmet.

And they will spin and double talk their own stances on this issue in an effort to save face and paint themselves champions all along.

And the populace that despite the evidence will still not be willing to give up their cell phones

and miss the bigger story yet!

The government has discounted the misery experienced by the working man exacerbating it by

taking it and giving it to the Bankers who now use it to invest

and continue their lifestyle instead of lending it back to who it belonged to in the first place.

We now see it is not just their homes, jobs and retirements that are expendable in order to placate

the wealthy friends of the politico's, but it is also the very lives of the American citizen that is now a bargaining chip in the realm of lobbyists for a richer cause.

All the while diverting attention from the real issue w/ a bogus safety issue focused on helmets.

How many have been killed in the last nine years due to lack of wearing a helmet vs. those who

have been killed by virtue of distracted driving?

Ah yes, those freaking politicians have done it again.
While we handed them the K-Y and bent over and asked for more!!-- sphere it end -->Add to Technorati Favorites

We hate to say we told you so-government coverup results in countless deaths due to distracted driving

Thanks to to Silva for the tip!

This won't come as shocking news to those of us that have been attempting to get the legislatures in various states to pass laws against distracted driving. We have known it and we have been reporting on it.

It may come as news to the likes of the ABATE of Florida lobbyist and President, and others who have consistently either ,
A. Not supported the legislation, or
B. Not believed what we have been trying to say,

So listen to what Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety had to say in a New York Times article that can be found here:

“We’re looking at a problem that could be as bad as drunk driving, and the government has covered it up,”

It appears that as far back as 2003 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
knew the extent of the problem but had suppressed 100's of pages of data out of fear of pissing congress off?

Today that research is being made public as result of Freedom of Information acts filed by   The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen.  The New York times will be publishing the info on their website.

Some highlights:

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.

Our site, Ray Henke's Motorcyclist Against Dumb Drivers and Bruce and RC's Motorcycle Forum (search cell phones and/or distracted driving) and others  have been harping on this for years. To the extent that I am sure we've have convinced some that we are raving lunatics. But all one would have to do is go to MADD and read the comprehensive epidemiological evidence and it becomes a no brain'er. Which we have referenced in numerous posts.

So what has the ignorance, denial and apathy resulted in?

The highway safety researchers estimated that cellphone use by drivers caused around 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents over all in 2002.

That's in 2002 mind you. Seven years ago! And the sale of cell phones and other devices has not slowed down since then. So, what is the death count now! Because the above numbers were arrived at by using the figure of, 6% of drivers were using a cell phone at any given time!  The Department oof Transportation estimates that number is double now. We say the Department of Transportation is still attempting to minimize the Problem. Next rush hour count the persons on cell phones while driving.
I will take a wild guess by my own count that the numbers are now above 30%.

Please note that as the studies demonstrate, hands held or hands free, no damn difference:

The researchers also shelved a draft letter they had prepared for Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to send, warning states that hands-free laws might not solve the problem.

That letter said that hands-free headsets did not eliminate the serious accident risk. The reason: a cellphone conversation itself, not just holding the phone, takes drivers’ focus off the road, studies showed.

Needless to say the Bureaucrats are circling the wagons to dodge blame and are now pointing fingers at the Congress,

But “my advisers upstairs said we should not poke a finger in the eye of the appropriations committee,” recalled Dr. Grunge, head of the highway safety committee. 

Our suspicion is that there is some truth in that. We reported on this site a Florida senators aide comment to us that, wireless industry "money  is flooding the Florida Capital". 

We are quite willing to believe that the two faced S.O.B.'s that claim to be representing us would trade lives for dollars.  In the case of the Florida legislature we would base this on their failure to pass any cell phone legislation that has been put before them and/or any bills that would stiffen the penalties for those who while distracted negligently kill innocents daily on the "Killing Fields" we refer to as Florida's Highways.Evidence this statement by "nutless wonder" Mr. Runge:

Those stakeholders, Dr. Runge said, were the House Appropriations Committee and groups that might influence it, notably voters who multitask while driving and, to a much smaller degree, the cellphone industry.

Is anyone out there naive enough to believe that the corruption in DC does not also exist at the state and municipal levels.  Of course it does. As we have also posted, though with little feedback, is that the levels of corruption in the bureaucratic hallways of what we refer to as "America" are on par with the Soviet Union.  Witness the banking crises which we will again post on but say here that it again is a perfect example of The Corporate/Governance alliance placing dollars above the welfare of the common man. Like so what else is new?

Mr. Ditlow said that putting fears of the House panel ahead of public safety was an abdication of the agency’s responsibility.

“No public health and safety agency should allow its research to be suppressed for political reasons,” he said. Doing so “will cause deaths and injuries on the highways.”

BUT THE PROBLEM IS!!!!!!  WE KNEW IT!!!!!! We, the American Citizenry have known along that the government and the corporations are corrupt and we should have known that cell phone use while driving kills. Because though the government may  suppress it's knowledge of these problems, the info "IS OUT THERE!!!!" 

So yes today we learn what we already knew and the question remains the question that we have been asking consistently, because this is not about cellphones, it is about a Government that no longer represents the best interest of its citizens, thus the question, "WHAT THE F*&K are we going to do about it?????"

Throw another worthless Tea Party so we can pay lip service to our patriotism??????

Because they are now going to add insult to injury and of course we will eat it and more will die and life goes on la de da:

The agency’s current policy is that people should not use cellphones while driving. Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the agency, said it did not, and would not, publish the researchers’ fatality estimates because they were not definitive enough.
He said the other research was compiled as background material for the agency, not for the public.

Are you ready to cry or laugh now. The Agency who exist by virtue of the public, that is financed by the public, that is tasked with engaging in research and studies to save the lives of the public has determined the results of research data that the public has paid for, is not for the PUBLIC??????

Well Kiss my ass!

Links to postings on this site re distracted driving and cell phones:

Cell Phones
Distracted Driving

Documents: Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

The above body of research, conducted by the Department of Transportation and completed in 2003, has not been made public until now. The documents pertain to the safety of using wireless communication devices while driving. The New York Times obtained the research from the Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen, two consumer advocacy groups that earlier this year acquired more than 250 pages of undisclosed material through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.Add to Technorati Favorites