WASHINGTON (WKOW) -- Vehicles have become incredibly high-tech.
All those extra gadgets on the dashboard can be extremely distracting.
Manufacturers have almost created an arcade with GPS images, phone calls and web surfing.
Now the government is asking them to cut back.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing voluntary guidelines for manufacturers.
That includes a recommendation that they design dashboards that automatically disable distracting devices unless the vehicle is stopped.
"We have been on a crusade for more than three years," said
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
He said the guidelines will "continue
the drumbeat" as one of the department's top safety initiatives.
More than 3,000 people died in 2010 in crashes blamed on distracted driving.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a coalition of 12 car and
light truck manufacturers which helped develop the non binding
guidelines, said in a statement it will review the recommendations.
"Consumers expect to have access to new technology, so integrating and
adapting this technology to enable safe driving is the solution," said
AAM spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist.
President Barack Obama called for $330 million over six years in the 2012
federal budget for distracted driving programs to increase awareness of
the problem.
