“While NHTSA is currently researching various technologies, Secretary LaHood believes first and foremost that everyone has a personal responsibility to drive safely,” said U.S. Department of Transportation spokeswoman Olivia Alair. “The Department of Transportation currently has no plans to endorse any particular technology.”…

One expert said that Lahood’s seeming suggestion to install phone jamming technology in automobiles is fraught with problems.

“It’s just not particularly a well-thought-through plan,” said Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow with the Technology Policy Project. “The question is: how do you even begin to make this mandate work?”

Thierer said it would be a bureaucratic nightmare figuring out how to install the technology production and to determine if older automobile models would be required to install similar devices. Then there’s the problem of a much-needed emergency “off” switch.