Nebraska Assistant Section Manager and Public Information Coordinator
Jeff Beiermann, WB0M, sent me an email that was on the ARRL PR list
serve. The NTSB recommendation on drivers using cell phones and other
electronic devices is something that hams need to be aware of. We may
find ourselves banned from using ham radios while driving.

Here is the email that Jeff sent me which was authored by the ARRL
Chief Executive Officer, David Sumner, K1ZZ:
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Since the NTSB recommendation that all use of cellphones and other
portable electronic devices by drivers be banned is the lead news story
of the day, it’s worth a reminder that ARRL has been on top of this
issue’s implications for Amateur Radio mobile operation for several
years.

ARRL’s position is set out in the attached Mobile Amateur Radio
Policy Statement, which includes suggested legislative language.

ARRL’s correspondence with the National Safety Council that is cited
in the following web story from September 15, 2009 may also be
helpful:

http://www.arrl.org/news/national-sa...uot-while-oper

Of course, in responding to the NTSB recommendation we must be careful
not to minimize the horrific nature of the accidents cited in their
Fact Sheet (also attached). But the fact is that none of them involved
Amateur Radio or other two-way radio operation, and one of the studies
cited therein (the Australian study reported in the New England Journal
of Medicine) had already been debunked prior to the NTSB release (see
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7BB1B720111212

David Sumner K1ZZ
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ARRL Nebraska Section
Section Manager: Arthur I Zygielbaum, K0AIZ

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