I appreciate the choice Webster's New World College Dictionary has made in selecting "distracted driving" as their Word of the Year 2009. 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. 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.
– 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”?