Not long after the feds issued voluntary guidelines last February instructing automakers on how factory-installed infotainment and navigation systems should operate to reduce distracted driving, NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Strickland acknowledged that the nonbinding rules left a ?regulatory doughnut hole? in the form of brought-in devices like smartphones. Today, Strickland’s boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, announced that his agency wants to close that gap by drafting further guidelines to cover mobile devices and even voice-activated controls in cars.
