Having been a bus passenger for three hours across three states, I was stunned to see 7 drivers texting on the highway in the passing lane. Driving on my own, I have seen people driving erratically for miles on the highway; some were texting. I have asked my high tech husband if there is a way for a smart phone to be smart enough to not only know that the phone is moving in a car, but also to know that it is the driver who is using it to text, etc. I’d like it to be impossible to text and drive. In the meantime, strict enforcement seems imperative. So much distraction and it is hard to put this genie back in the bottle.
I use Waze for GPS and it knows if the car is moving. A box pops up that says typing is disabled for driving but you can click the box that says you’re a passenger and type whatever address you’re looking for. A tricky thing to legislate against because I, as a passenger, could type an address into H’s phone while he is driving when we’re going somewhere. Same for an old fashioned GPS too except it wouldn’t know if the car is moving.
What I don’t understand is when you see the driver with the phone in their hand they have a passenger. Let the navigator help.
But how do you enable an app to work for a driver and not punish a passenger who wants to use their phone?
^How about an 8 digit password to override while the vehicle is moving. Easy for a passenger, much more difficult for a driver who might be tempted.
I love so many of these ideas! Maybe my tech son will invent something.
How drastically her life changed in just an instant, at such a young age, for something she could have entirely prevented. This could break her (no pun intended).
Yeah, my car can read texts to me via the bluetooth hands-free system, which is nice. I can’t dictate texts via that system, but I imagine that will be the next step. Where I live, rest areas have started to have signs encouraging people to pull over there to do their texting.
In NJ , we aren’t supposed to talk on our phones unless it’s via blue tooth or other hands free modes.
Yet I see it happen every day, often times by law enforcement themselves. Even before I had my newer vehicle with all the bells and whistles, I used my apply earbuds to conduct phone conversations both incoming and outgoing. It isn’t any more distracting than changing a radio station and safer than hand held
Actually, talking on the phone is more distracting than listening to the radio, since the radio does not expect you to pay attention to it all the time and respond promptly.
Wearing earbuds while driving is illegal in certain jurisdictions, as it can prevent the driver from hearing warning honks and emergency vehicle sirens. I agree with above that carrying on conversations is more distracting than having music playing due to the fact that it requires more attention paid to listen to dialogue and formulate responses.
I saw a presentation once on Oprah about the things your mind blocks out when talking on the phone and driving, and it was pretty scary.