According to the Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in Syracuse yesterday for a big announcement. The news is that Syracuse will be afforded a $300,000 grant to help authorities crackdown on cell phone usage while driving.

Take a quick listen…

This gets me thinking about a few things. First, why does Secretary LaHood repeatedly reference cell phones and Blackberry devices as different devices? I guess that means I’m good to go with my iPhone. Clearly he does not understand the simple technology that is the basis for this grant. I am not sure how someone is able to act responsibly toward the resolution of a problem when they don’t have even a reasonable understanding of the topic?

Secondly, near the end of his announcement, Secretary LaHood speaks about how the phone/texting problem can be addressed just as successfully as we have addressed the problem of seat belts and drunk driving. Really? Have we addressed those issues successfully? As long as innocent people are still being killed every day by drunk drivers, I’m not so sure I would stand in front of a crowd and describe that work as a success. I’m guessing Secretary LaHood’s life hasn’t been touched by this issue in any way or he wouldn’t be speaking so irrationally. Perhaps Secretary LaHood should start watching the news.

And finally, as a daily user of the transportation infrastructure in the Syracuse area, I would suggest that they spend some of that $300,000 on programs to get the peace officers to stop using their cell phones/smart phones while they are driving. Perhaps by example, change will happen. And it would probably make the officers feel better about not being hypocrites when they are busy writing tickets.

But all of that is just my little rant about it. Make your own opinion.

sjt