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Secretary of Transportation LaHood: We're looking into technology to disable cell phones in vehicles

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said using a cell phone while driving is so dangerous that devices may soon be installed in cars to forcibly stop drivers — and potentially anyone else in the vehicle — from using them.

“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”

The hosts of Morning Joe pushed the secretary about the possibility of requiring scrambling technology installed in vehicles.

“I think it will be done,” said LaHood. “I think the technology is thereand I think you’re going to see the technology become adaptable in automobilesto disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going tosave lives.”

LaHood’sappearance coincided with the transportation department’s launch of the“,” an online campaign aimed at scaringdrivers safe. The awareness initiative features videos ofљ people who have been injured by distracted drivers.

LaHood has called distracted driving an “epidemic” and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrationa year, or about .001 percent of the U.S. population, die as a result of it. In 2009, however, the NHTSA found that highway fatalities were at the lowest levels since the 1950s. At the time, Lahood applauded the announcement but vowed he “would not rest” until the roads were even safer.

“Am I on a rampage,” said LaHood, who has made distracted driving a top priority of his tenure, . “Yes, I am, and why shouldn’t I be?”

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