The second National Distracted Driving Summit is scheduled for Sept. 21, 2010, in Washington, D.C.


The Summit, which will build on last year's event, will bring together key stakeholders in the issue to address challenges and identify opportunities for national anti-distracted driving efforts.

"Working together, we can put an end to the thousands of needless deaths and injuries caused by distracted driving each year," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "By getting the best minds together, I believe we can figure out how to get people to put down their phones and pay attention to the road."

Last year, LaHood held the first Distracted Driving Summit, which prompted the Obama Administration to enact an Executive Order banning all text messaging by federal employees while they're driving government-owned vehicles, while driving any vehicle on official government business, or using mobile devices issued by the government while behind the wheel.

This year's event will explore accomplishments since the first summit, as well as the challenges that lie ahead. Key topics will include research, technology, policy, public outreach and best practices in enforcement.

Since last year's Summit, dozens of state and local governments have enacted anti-distracted driving legislation, and the federal government has established texting bans for commercial truck and bus drivers. The Department of Transportation helped victims establish a national non-profit advocacy organization called FocusDriven and launched pilot law enforcement campaigns in Hartford, Conn., and Syracuse, N.Y.

For more information about the upcoming Summit, visit www.distraction.gov/2010summit.