I appreciate the choice Webster's New World College Dictionary has made in selecting "distracted driving" as their Word of the Year 2009. I think its rapid intrusion into our national vocabulary shows what an epidemic distracted driving has become. 
 
 There's no denying that this phrase became part of my vocabulary this past year. Below is Webster's Editor-in-Chief Mike Agnes explaining their choice: 
 
 Now, as interesting as it is to talk about what "distracted" really modifies here, it's probably much more important to focus on what "distracted driving" says about our common sense. 
 
 On its website Webster's explains its choice further: 
 
 A sign of the times surely, distracted driving is another reflection – and consequence – of our ongoing romance with all things digital and mobile and the enhanced capabilities they provide. While it now may be easier and quicker to feed our multitasking habits, it is not always safe, and many jurisdictions are formalizing that position by making it a crime to text or otherwise use a cellphone while driving. 
 
 And that's why we've produced the PSA "Calling Plan," and that's why we've launched D!straction.gov, and that's why we want to make 2010 the year we put distracted driving behind us. ||||| by Mark Silva 
 
 Webster's New World Dictionary has its "Word of the Year.'' 
 
 "Distracted driving.'' 
 
 And Ray LaHood, the secretary of transportation and retired congressman from Peoria, couldn't be happier. LaHood, waging his own war against driving with distractions such as cell phones and texting, says in his "Fast Lane'' blog at DOT that "we want to make 2010 the year we put distracted driving behind us.'' 
 
 Webster's has put the word(s) in front of us: 
 
 Editor-in-Chief Mike Agnes explains the selection: "Distracted driving is another reflection - and consequence - of our ongoing romance with all things digital and mobile and the enhanced capabilities they provide. 
 
 "While it now may be easier and quicker to feed our multitasking habits, it is not always safe, and many jurisdictions are formalizing that position by making it a crime to text or otherwise use a cellphone while driving. In other words, CrackBerry users beware, lest a charge of DWD (driving while distracted) or DWT (driving while texting) stain your record, not to mention endanger yourself and others. '' 
 
 CrackBerry - the term of derision for the popular handheld email device, the BlackBerry -- was Webster's Word of the Year in 2006. 
 
 At DOT, LaHood has produced a Public Service Announcement of his own -- see it below -- and devoted a Website, distraction.gov, to news about the campaign against distracted driving. 
 
 
 
 
 

– Webster’s New World Dictionary has named “distracted driving” its Word of the Year, much to the delight of Ray LaHood. The transportation secretary’s crusade to ban distracted driving, which generally refers to talking on the phone or texting while behind the wheel, is part of what brought the word to the forefront last year. “I think its rapid intrusion into our national vocabulary shows what an epidemic distracted driving has become,” he wrote on his blog. Webster editor-in-chief Mike Agnes’ reasons for picking the phrase are a bit more academic, notes the Chicago Tribune. “We’re building up a whole semantic cloud around this,” he says, citing acronyms like DWD or DWT—driving while distracted and texting respectively. It also “has an interesting linguistic turn,” because “if you think about it, the driving isn’t distracted,” making it “what’s known technically as hypallage.” Okay, sure, smart guy, but isn’t it also known technically as “two words”?