Keith Laing

Advocates of “smart” cars say federal regulators must listen more closely to developers’ concerns to allow emerging technologies to hit the roadways.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has been encouraging the development of so-called "connected vehicles" that can use technology to communicate with other cars and even infrastructure like traffic lights to improve mobility for drivers. But Intelligent Car Coalition Executive Director Catherine McCullough said that the technology could be deployed more effectively if regulators listened better to industry.

Sen Tom Harkin (D-IA) wants US airlines to add closed captioning to movies that are shown during long flights in an effort to aid hearing impaired airline passengers.

Sen Harkin said he was considering adding an amendment requiring the airline industry to at least study the proposal to a $54 billion funding bill for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development during a markup of the measure.

"I have been trying for some time to get the airlines to provide closed captions on the movies on their airplanes. I can't understand why they don't do it. It doesn't cost anything," Harkin said after the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to send the measure to the full of the floor Senate.

The chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said that she would try to include the amendment addressing Sen Harkin's concerns in the final version of the transportation department funding measure when it reaches the Senate floor.

The United States is pushing for a United Nations resolution in support of international bans on texting while driving.

UN Ambassador Samantha Power said in a speech the push to outlaw texting while driving in many US states should be replicated in other nations.

“Worldwide, six out of seven people have access to cell phones and more than a billion cars are on the road,” Power said. “In crowded conditions, with narrow roads and poor infrastructure, bicyclists and pedestrians are at particular risk. Too many drivers simply don’t understand the danger of taking their eyes, even briefly, from the road. And while drinking is episodic, the use of hand-held devices is chronic. No one should die -- or kill -- because of a text message.”

Forty-three US states have passed bans on texting while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).