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bjbjLULU HARI SREENIVASAN: Using a cell phone while driving in any form should be banned.
That was the unanimous recommendation today of the National Transportation Safety Board.
It said the ban should apply both to hands-free and handheld phones and other portable devices.
That would exceed restrictions already imposed in many states. We get more from Deborah Hersman,
head of the NTSB. Ms. Hersman, thanks for being with us. Thirty-five states already
have on the books some sort of ban against texting while driving. Why do your recommendations
to ban all portable electronic devices go further than that? DEBORAH HERSMAN, National
Transportation Safety Board: Unfortunately, in ten years of investigations, we have seen
that distractions cause accidents that result in fatalities, lost lives and injuries. We
have seen this in all modes of transportation, but in particular on our nation's highways.
HARI SREENIVASAN: If the purpose is to decrease the amount of distracted driving, couldn't
the case be made that, when I change music stations on my car radio, when I eat, when
I talk to another passenger, I'm equally as distracted? DEBORAH HERSMAN: Well, for sure,
there are a lot of distractions that are facing today's drivers. But one of the things that
we know is that all distractions are not equal. It's the distractions that really require
cognitive attention. It requires you to split your task. And human beings are really just
not very good at that. What you do is, you would end up diverting attention away from
the primary task at hand. And that's driving. It's different when you have a passenger in
the car with you. They can help you. They are aware of the traffic situation. They're
aware when things get complicated. They don't expect you to respond when you get into a
tight situation. But the person on the other end of the line really is not helpful when
it comes to reacting and adapting to the environment. HARI SREENIVASAN: The NTSB has sort of recommendation
authority, but it doesn't have any enforcement authority. How, if states were to take your
ban, would they possibly enforce something like this? DEBORAH HERSMAN: Well, as you mentioned,
there are 35 states that already have texting bans. And so law enforcement authorities are
actually faced with many difficult tasks when it comes to enforcing laws, detecting impaired
drivers, whether they're on drugs or whether they have been consuming alcohol, detecting
drivers who are performing erratically. It's the things that you see when you're out on
the road, and you know that somebody is texting or they're talking on the phone and they're
distracted. They're not maintaining speed. They're not maintaining their lane. They are
distracted. Their driving is erratic or it's not consistent. Unfortunately, we see this
too often. It doesn't take long to have a catastrophic event or an accident. And, as
we saw in our investigation today that the board reported so, there was a driver who
was sending and receiving 11 texts in 11 minutes before the accident. He was in a work zone,
and immediately traffic came to a stop. He was involved in a fatal accident. No call,
no text, no post is worth a human life. HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, Deborah Hersman, head
of the NTSB, thanks so much for your time. DEBORAH HERSMAN: Thank you for having me.
HARI SREENIVASAN: The Federal Reserve offered a slightly improved assessment of the economy
today. But the Central Bank made no move toward new efforts to boost growth. That sent Wall
Street down late in the day. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 66 points to close
below 11,955. The Nasdaq fell nearly 33 points to close at 2,579. At least 28 people were
killed in violence across Syria today. In one incident, anti-government activists said
security opened fire on a funeral procession near the Turkish border. And a Syrian human
rights group reported an American-born Syrian blogger, Razan Ghazzawi, has been charged
with spreading false information and trying to weaken national sentiment. In Belgium,
a man armed with grenades and an assault rifle launched a deadly assault on holiday shoppers
in the city of Liege. All told, four people died and more than 120 were wounded. We have
a report from Martin Geissler of Independent Television News. MARTIN GEISSLER: Without
any warning or obvious motive, 32-year-old Nordine Amrani created mayhem in this Belgian
marketplace today. From a vantage point above the shoppers, he threw at least three grenades,
then opened fire with automatic weapons, before turning a gun on himself. Two teenagers and
a pensioner were killed. A 2-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital tonight.
Others are receiving treatment for their injuries. Eyewitnesses spoke of the chaos that unfolded,
describing scenes more reminiscent of a battlefield. MAN: I saw all the glass breaking. I saw people
running, screaming. I drive my car. Then I saw in the markets all the people lying down,
bleeding between the glass. MARTIN GEISSLER: Amrani was well-known to police here. They
raided his home three years ago, tipped off he was growing drugs, but found a huge cache
of weapons. He was sentenced to almost five years, but served less than two years in jail.
The major investigation already under way may in time reveal Amrani's motive, but questions
are already being asked as to how a man with his record could have developed the arsenal
and the anger needed for an attack like this without the authorities becoming aware. This
evening, the authorities are working to reassure the city that the incident is over. That's
little comfort to the scores of wounded and the families of the three people who have
lost their lives so far. HARI SREENIVASAN: A separate attack erupted in a market in Florence,
Italy. A gunman there killed two street vendors from Senegal and wounded three others, before
killing himself. Italian news accounts identified him as a right-wing extremist who had taken
part in racist rallies. The man at the center of the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State
university waived his preliminary hearing today. Jerry Sandusky's decision means his
case will proceed to a trial. He faces more than 50 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys
across a 12-year-period. Sandusky has denied the allegations. And defense lawyer Joseph
Amendola said today, that has not changed. JOE AMENDOLA, attorney for Jerry Sandusky:
I don't want there to be any misunderstanding. We are not in any way conceding guilt. In
fact, Jerry is more adamant than ever in his innocence and in expressing his innocence
at trial. Today's decision was simply a tactical measure based upon an analysis of what was
going to transpire. HARI SREENIVASAN: Instead, the defense said it wanted to avoid having
Sandusky's accusers amplify their claims in open court. A Pennsylvania state prosecutor
said it was probably for the best. MARC COSTANZO, Pennsylvania deputy attorney general: I haven't
spoken to the victims, but you have got to show and understand that you can't forget
the victims in this. And you want to have some feelings of compassion for the hurt that
they have. And, you know, I think -- I would imagine that they would be somewhat relieved
not having to go out and testify and be cross-examined. HARI SREENIVASAN: Sandusky's next scheduled
court appearance is in January. A trial date has not been set. President Obama warned supporters
today that his reelection is not going to be a slam dunk. He told an audience in Washington
that he has worked to heal the economy, but Americans are still skeptical. Earlier, the
president's top campaign advisers said they expect Republicans will stage a drawn-out
fight that will weaken their nominee. Scientists' search for the so-called God particle in physics
may have taken a new turn. Two research teams at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland announced
today they're closing in on the so-called Higgs boson. The subatomic particle has long
been thought to be a building block of the universe, but its existence has never been
proven. Those are some of the day's major stories. urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
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country-region urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags State HARI SREENIVASAN: Using a cell phone
while driving in any form should be banned: That was the unanimous recommendation today
of the National Transportation Safety Board Online DA Normal Microsoft Office Word HARI
SREENIVASAN: Using a cell phone while driving in any form should be banned: That was the
unanimous recommendation today of the National Transportation Safety Board Title Microsoft
Office Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8