NTSB asks Coast Guard to review cell phones’ role in boat accidents

Distracted driving no longer only applies to the road.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now asking the Coast Guard to keep track of the use of cell phones on commercial boats involved in accidents.

Thomas Roth-Roffy, a marine engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Federal Drive the impetus for the new guidance was an accident last summer involving a distracted operator of a commercial tugboat that struck a passenger vessel, killing two people.

NTSB may now ask the Coast Guard, which investigates marine accidents, to develop regulations for reviewing personal cell phone at the scene of accidents on the water.

Roth-Roffy said the Coast Guard already inquires about alcohol and drug use in investigating accidents so asking about cell phone use in today’s digitally connected — and increasingly distracted — world only makes sense.

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