Cybersecurity, Distracted Driving, and Car Free Day

Cybersecurity

Joe Lieberman is pushing his “Protecting Cyberspace as a Nation Asset Act of 2010.”

Vice President Wayne Crews argues that cyberspace is not a national asset, and that market competition–not government planning–is the key to improving cybersecurity.

“Like everything else in the market, security technologies – from biometric identifiers to firewalls to network monitoring to encrypted databases – advance thanks to aggressive competition. Security is an industry unto itself; let’s not turn it into bureaucracy.”

Distracted Driving

This week the Department of Transportation held its second-annual “Distracted Driving Summit.”

Policy Analyst Marc Scribner asks why the DOT has focused almost exclusively on cell-phone use as a distraction to drivers.

“[Transportation Secretary] LaHood is currently waging a war on ‘texting while driving,’ as many cities and states continue to ban holding phones behind the wheel. But why the selective hysteria over texting and hand-held cell phones? Research suggests that drivers using hands-free devices are no safer than those using hand-held devices, yet I have heard no calls to prohibit hands-free devices — not to mention fiddling with the stereo or yelling at your kids in the backseat or listening to NPR’s awful cringe-fest ‘Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!,’ which are also potentially deadly distractions.”

Car Free Day

Today is World Car Free Day.

General Counsel Sam Kazman encourages people to ignore Car Free Day and use their cars.

“The automobile has improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people in remarkable ways. It has taken the mobility once reserved for aristocrats and democratized it, immensely expanding the choices that average people have regarding where to live and work. Instead of pushing a misguided political agenda to reduce car use, we should be celebrating automobility.”