joining us now secretary ray la hood with the u.s. department of transportation. for coming in today. by your being here means that you are very serious about this behavior on the roadways. tell us what falls under distracted driving as you see it. >> people using cell phones or texting or receiving a text message. if you are texting while driving, your eyes are off the road for four seconds, your car goes the length of a football field. you don't have your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. this is an epidemic in america because everybody has a cell phone or a blackberry and everybody thinks they can use them any time, anyplace, anywhere, including in their car, which makes for very dangerous behavior. >> you have said to cut all of this out because it happened so quickly, all of it technology and now we want to be in touch all of the time. you say make it easy, put it in the glove compartment. >> ten years ago, nobody wanted to buckle up and then we had click it or ticket and now 85% of the people buckle up. my admonition is buckle up and put it in your gl

ray la hood says hand held devices are the most dangerous. >> stay with this distracted driving program until we get people to put their cell phone and blackberries in their glove compartment after they buckle up. >> the government says more than 5,000 people died in accidents attributed to distracted driving. >>> in this morning's health alert, there is encouraging news about alzheimer's research. scientists in australia and great britain say a test could eventually be developed to determine if a person in their 40s is at risk of developing alzheimer's. that test could take as little as 30 seconds. researchers tested response times on people in their 40s. those who did poorly had lesions on the brain similar to alzheimer's patients. >>> there is new hope for women with breast cancer. the fda approved a drug that helps block cancer cell growth. in test trials, women who took the drug lived on average an additional 13 months compared to 10 1/2 moves for patients who didn't take the drug. >>> social media is connecting hundreds of millions of people across cities and oceans. now, new tech

how about ray la hood?ransportation safety. >> not familiar. >> you're saying we have machinery now because a republican in the past had some sweetheart dole with some suppliers. >> not just chertoff. >> who else is involved? >> i'm not going to name names for you. >> we're getting to the bottom of this. you believe the united states government is using this because of corrupt deals. >> i know this machinery is not effective -- >> you're saying because michael chertoff -- was involved in this. >> that's the only reason that i can see for the united states spending $2.4 billion on technology that's not effective at picking up the powdered explosives. >> do you know anything about this, erroll? >> i want to believe that the american security apparatus in the acting in the best interest of keeping americans safe and that the administration meaning tsa at this point, has acted with whatever information they have to rose to the level of skutny that we have now. at the end of the day, we want the right thing, whi

nothing gets the point across like a permanent story and the department of transportation sngt ray la hoodu can cite statistics all you want but you don't realize how heartbreaking it is until you see the faces of the family members that we're talking about here. here's a for instance. she is marguey ski, 13 years old, sher mother said she wanted to be a pilot, she loved animals. one day she was on a school bus when a semitruck driver rear ended the bus. she was trapped under the seat and was burned to death when the bus caught on fire. her mother says a big part of her died along with her daughter. >> it's just taking your world full of color and then all of the sudden, everything is gray. i can't even say it's black and white. it's gray. it's ugly. >> reporter: so these are the types of stories that you will see on the web only on line, seen with the department of transportation. martha: this is the next thing. antismoking, antidrinking and driving, it's that big a story. thank you very much, laura ingle. bill: certainly gets your attention, too. and this will get your attention, too, a

ray l. hood also joined us on fox 5 morning news yesterday. the government says more than 5,000 people died last year in accidents attributed to distracted driving. secretary lahopes all states will ban cell phone use or texting while driving. >>> straight ahead, a fox 5 investigation. is a local high-ranking official taking taxpayers for a ride? why some people are upset about his long daily commute to and from work. that is coming up next. >>> is it appropriate for him to have a city-issued car? >> yes, absolutely. >> gas and mileage and he lives 80 miles away? >> yes. ♪ mmmmm... ( crash ) ♪ mmmmm... ( crash ) ♪ mmmmm... ( crash ) when you add velveeta to spicy rotel tomatoes and green chiles, you've got a queso so good, it'll blow 'em away. mmmmm... ( crash ) - ha ha ha! - woo! - dang! velveeta & rotel. man, that's good! okayhellllllo...that one, everyone looks great. [ female announcer ] when you make your christmas cards at hallmark.com... my show, perfect. ♪ la la la la la la laaa ♪ [ daughter ] dad! sorry. aww yeah! that one! [ female announcer ] ...we address and mail them for you... [ little boy ] now that's a good one. [ indistinct conversations ] [