Can anything be done about distracted driving?

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - The issue of distracted driving is an easy issue for us to cover. It is in two parts. The first one is: Do we have a problem? The second one is: If we have a problem, what can be done about it?

We all know the answer to the first question don't we? Distracted drivers are everywhere: talking on phones, both earbuds in, texting, eating, adjusting the radio. The result:  5,000 deaths a year and half a million injuries. And yet, we are as bad as ever at being disciplined about paying attention at the wheel.

Robert Sinclair Jr. is a longtime spokesperson for AAA Northeast, which recently put on-board cameras in 1,600 vehicles driven by teenagers, putting a real face on the dangers of distracted driving, drivers risking everyone's lives, in their car, in other cars, endangering cyclists and pedestrians. The fact is we're just not good with phones. Yet we are glued to this spellbinding activity even while crossing streets around motorized vehicles.

Dr. Yves Duroseau is chair of the Emergency Department at Lenox Hill Hospital. He sees victims because someone thought a text message or phone call was more important than safety. And he has plenty of victims who don't make it out alive.

One group took released a 20-minute video and detailed the distracted drivers in the shot. 185 distracted drivers were spotted in 20 minutes. Sadly, we're not part of the fix for this. Experts say the cell phone and auto industry will have to build in a feature that disables phones while in a moving vehicle -- a technological seatbelt if you will.

As for a timeline for a solution, the experts are not encouraged. Seat belts were invented around 1950 yet it took nearly 30 years for the first meaningful law to be implemented. This is a problem that may take some time to solve.