NHTSA Regulates Cell Phones?

We here at the Dashboard are fond of writing about the ongoing evolution of the automotive industry into a technology industry. It seems that the folks at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been watching the same evolution. Just last week, NHTSA released voluntary guidelines to address driver distraction. These guidelines, Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for Portable and Aftermarket Devices, seek to further reduce driver distraction, thus reducing traffic accidents and fatalities.

How do they do this?

A few ways. First, the guidelines apply to mobile devise manufacturers and application/software developers. Thus, NHTSA is not setting guidelines for companies like Samsung, Google, Apple, etc. Second, the guidelines "encourage innovative solutions such as pairing and Driver Mode that, when implemented, will reduce the potential for unsafe driver distraction..." Third, the guidelines recommend that mobile device functions be