Last Thursday, I attended the GSA 5th Annual National Safety Symposium at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. as part of ZoomSafer’s contingent.  Each year, GSA organizes this event as an opportunity for federal employees to attend technical sessions on pressing safety issues, and mingle with exhibitors providing important safety products and services.

In addition to manning the ZoomSafer booth in the exhibit hall, I was also lucky enough to sit in on a breakout session on distracted driving presented by Jennifer Beery Warren from NHTSA.  As the session’s description highlights, one of the issues at the core of the distracted driving problem is that “we live in a world where people expect instant, real time information 24 hours a day and those desires do not stop just because people get behind the wheel.”  That desire to stay connected encourages cell phone use behind the wheel that often results in behavior that could endanger the driver or those with whom he or she is sharing the road.

My take-away from Ms. Warren’s session is that NHTSA is genuinely concerned about distracted driving, and are trying their best to do something about it. NHTSA has developed a  four-point plan to evaluate and solve the problem.  They also realize that it is not going to go away or be solved overnight.  They are in it for the long haul.

The most noteworthy (for me) component to their solution was a campaign to promote public awareness that distracted driving has consequences.  By now most of us have probably seen the “Click it or ticket” campaign aimed at encouraging everyone to buckle up.  Back in April, NHTSA announced a new program coming online to similarly target distracted driving.  It is called “Phone in one hand, ticket in the other”. NHTSA’s program, the first of its kind, consists of four waves of high-profile enforcement periods in Hartford, CT and Syracuse, NY.  Two of the waves took place in April and July, with October of this year and February 2011 still to come.

Watch this video clip to learn more about the program:

If these demonstration enforcement initiatives are successful, NHTSA could expand its efforts into other jurisdictions.  How would you feel about a high-visibility program in your hometown?  Do you think it would help reduce the number of distracted drivers on the road?