On the cusp of September and October 2009, the United States Department of Transportation held its Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, D.C.  In preparation for it, TV news segments requested help from any interested parties.

I wanted to present my view that driving, by its very nature, seems to include vast amounts of apparently free-time that entice drivers into using digital distractions.  I informed the DOT’s summit representative I would send an important DVD.  Illinois State Representative Robert W. Pritchard wrote a great letter of the Secretary of Transportation, getting me invited to participate.  We had the DVD made: short, sweet, and to the point, and I sent it in, suggesting its best use would be to serve as the keynote for the summit.

I participated online.  DOT made no serious attempt even to understand the problem, let alone solve it.

In 2010, a second summit was held.  I was invited again.  I provided another copy of the DVD and watched online.  Nothing of any importance happened.

There was no summit in 2011.  Instead, the USDOT officially turned the whole driving problem over to America’s teenagers.