[ti:Getting Clunkers and Distracted Drivers Off the Road]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:Economics Report]
[by:51VOA.COM]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:03.61]Economics Report.
[00:05.60]This week in Washington, 
[00:07.54]Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood 
[00:10.83]announced plans for a 
[00:13.02]"distracted driving summit"
[00:15.55]in September.Transportation 
[00:18.64]and law enforcement officials, 
[00:21.23]safety activists and others 
[00:24.16]will discuss how to deal 
[00:26.80]with drivers who do other things 
[00:29.69]as they drive. 
[00:31.24]Talking on the phone 
[00:33.46]has long been an issue. 
[00:35.55]But text-messaging while driving 
[00:38.11]has gained more attention recently 
[00:41.20]following a number of deadly crashes.
[00:44.54]Right now, though, distracted driving 
[00:47.82]is not the only thing Secretary LaHood 
[00:50.91]has to think about.
[00:52.40]For the first time in many months, 
[00:55.68]large numbers of Americans 
[00:57.68]have been buying new cars. 
[01:00.41]And here is at least part 
[01:02.75]of the reason why: 
[01:04.54]Since late July the government 
[01:07.74]has been paying for people 
[01:09.58]to trade in older vehicles 
[01:12.42]for newer ones 
[01:13.96]with greater fuel economy. 
[01:16.62]The program is named 
[01:18.66]the Car Allowance Rebate System, 
[01:21.94]but known as "cash for clunkers."
[01:25.42]It was included as part of 
[01:28.16]an unrelated defense bill passed 
[01:31.05]in June. 
[01:32.30]Congress provided one billion dollars 
[01:37.03]for car dealers to pay for trade-ins. 
[01:40.96]Qualified buyers can receive up to
[01:44.01]four thousand five hundred dollars 
[01:47.51\\45]toward a new vehicle. So far, 
[01:50.60]most of the trade-ins 
[01:51.99]have been trucks and the majority 
[01:55.07]of new purchases have been cars.
[01:58.36]Dealers are required 
[02:00.25]to make the trade-ins unusable 
[02:02.74]by destroying the engine, 
[02:05.57]then recycle the old vehicles 
[02:08.56]into scrap metal.
[02:10.70]The billion dollars was supposed 
[02:13.64]to last until November. 
[02:16.03]But the program has been so popular, 
[02:19.27]officials say most of the money 
[02:22.01]is already gone.
[02:24.25]President Obama asked Congress 
[02:27.18]for an additional two billion dollars 
[02:30.01]which could last 
[02:31.36]through Labor Day, 
[02:32.86]September seventh.
[02:34.44]Last week the House 
[02:37.11]of Representatives agreed. 
[02:39.53]And on Wednesday, Senate Majority 
[02:42.82]Leader Harry Reid announced a deal 
[02:46.10]between Democrats and Republicans 
[02:49.04]to clear the way for final approval.
[02:52.88]But "cash for clunkers" has its critics. 
[02:57.47]Liberals say 
[02:58.92]the fuel-efficiency requirements 
[03:01.90]for the replacement vehicles 
[03:03.90]are not strong enough 
[03:06.15]for the environment. 
[03:08.19]Conservatives object to the cost, 
[03:12.07]and the idea of what they say 
[03:14.56]is just another bailout 
[03:17.20]for the car industry.
[03:19.55]The Transportation Department 
[03:22.23]reported Wednesday that almost half 
[03:25.42]of all sales were 
[03:27.46]from American manufacturers. 
[03:30.21]However, foreign automakers 
[03:33.04]had six of the ten top selling vehicles 
[03:37.33]in the program. But even so, 
[03:40.77]most of their vehicles 
[03:42.96]were built in the United States.
[03:45.64]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:49.52]Economics Report, 
[03:51.27]written by Mario Ritter.
[03:53.76]I'm Steve Ember.