Trying to Hit the Brake on Texting While Driving

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/business/trying-to-hit-the-brake-on-texting-while-driving.html

by srikar • 12 years ago

33 46 12 years ago

eli• 12 years ago

I honestly wonder whether mobile technology has contributed to this problem or whether it has just finally allowed us to measure "distracted driving" accidents accurately.

malkia2• 12 years ago

Everyday for my very short route of 1.5 miles from work to home I see texting drivers. I don't like texting much myself, so I don't feel the urge to use the device for it, and I have now idea what would make these people stop?

e402• 12 years ago

I walk 2 miles to and from work every day. I can tell you fiddling with phones is rampant along the path I walk. I often see people not yielding to me who are looking at their phones. If I weren't such a defensive walker, I might be dead now.

Spooky233• 12 years ago

The other day, I saw an associate who has money problems and kids at home buying shampoo for $10 at CVS... The same shampoo is $5 at Wal-Mart.

How do we stop parents from starving resources from their kids by buying overpriced stuff?

yzzxy2• 12 years ago

This is smart. Cellular jamming is mega-illegal in the US (even in prisons![0]), and when I first read through this article I missed part of the first paragraph and couldn't understand how this product could be sold.

However, the idea of working with network providers is great, and opens the door to a lot more options, such disabling cellphones in bars, resturants, etc. based on complex filters (e.g., allow "emergency" texts or only from close family).

I bet the movie theater industry will jump on this quickly.

[0] http://www.wired.com/2010/03/prison-mobile-phone-debate-jamm...

superuser2• 12 years ago

Why is it the responsibility or even the right of carriers to deny people the service they pay for simply because it annoys you?

Texting while driving is a public safety hazard, and that's pretty unambiguous. From where do you derive the right to control what I do in a bar or restauraunt?

e402• 12 years ago

Why is it the responsibility or even the right of carriers to deny people the service they pay for simply because it annoys you?

Exactly!! Are we so immature that we can't take responsibility for our own behavior and want laws and systems to do for us what we should do for ourselves?

rayiner6• 12 years ago

Because bars and restaurants are private property?

yzzxy2• 12 years ago

When I say smart, I mean purely from a cold, heartless, moneymaking perspective. I would not start this business because I agree with you in many cases.

wldcordeiro• 12 years ago

Oh yeah and while we're at it we should also jam people's devices at protests and large gatherings as well. /s

iopq• 12 years ago

Give me an insurance rate reduction and I'll bite.

Spooky233• 12 years ago

This is the knee-jerk reaction de jure of our age.

New York has made it a very serious moving violation (5 points, equivalent to speeding 40 mph over the limit) to have any electronic device in your hand. It's ok to use devices affixed to the dashboard, including GPS devices. If your a teenaged driver, you automatically get a 60 day suspension.

Using technical controls to govern behavior is bad policy. There's a reason why jamming radio signals is a serious crime -- it's too easy to make unanticipated mistakes.

thinkling2• 12 years ago

The article mentions that even people who agree that texting is a bad idea find that they have trouble stopping themselves from doing it.

These folks could limit distraction from incoming texts and calls by turning on "Do Not Disturb" mode.

I'd actually appreciate a mobile OS feature which lets through incoming text messages and auto-replies saying "I'm driving right now, I'll get back to you when I safely can."

Is this problem largely going to go away as voice control of phones (and car integration) get better?

nemeth88• 12 years ago

Windows Phone does this - when paired with a list of specified Bluetooth devices (such as a car GPS or stereo), it can switch to a DND mode automatically with an optional auto-reply.

Motorola seems to have recently rolled out a similar feature across it's entire Moto G/E/X product line - Drive Mode for their Moto Assist product.

But unless these kind of features become opt-out, I suspect it won't help that much. Right now you have to actively seek them out and turn them on, which many people aren't going to do.

psychometry• 12 years ago

Does texting need auto-reply? There's no cultural assumption of an instant reply over that medium.

click170• 12 years ago

Though I wish that you were right without exception, my experience is that at least for some people this does not hold true.

Swizec• 12 years ago

Texting has largely replaced phonecalls. Therefore most people expect you to get back to them within a couple of minutes, not hours.

I have used, and have seen others use, texting in real-time applications where immediate response is required. Like texting someone that you're at the door (and the bell doesn't work) instead of calling them.

Generally the younger you go, the more texting is expected to be instant communication.

joesmo3• 12 years ago

No. Texting, like IM and email, is an asynchronous form of communication. There are, however, plenty of people who do not understand that and might demand a more immediate response (as indicated by my own experience and the experience of other commenters here). Such pushy, demanding people have no place in my life and acquiescing to their petty needs should never come ahead of my own and others' survivability.

marquis• 12 years ago

This is why I don't text and drive: Werner Herzog's short doc on what can happen when you do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk1vCqfYpos

Since this piece I haven't had the slightest urge to text+drive however as I use my phone for navigation it's impossible to turn it off. I would definitely appreciate some kind of technology installed that was "hey, i see you are moving. no calls or texts for you".

Theodores• 12 years ago

That is quite a film, thanks for the link. The rest of the convo in this thread is a bit pointless to me now!

cenhyperion• 12 years ago

To me this is akin to limiting all vehicles to under 70 MPH to ensure no one speeds recklessly.

The solution is to train our drivers better and start actually pulling people over for using phones while driving, not cripple the capabilities of the technology we have.

AshFurrow• 12 years ago

At that point, Katasi generally doesn’t block the messages on the assumption that the passenger will prevent the driver from texting.

Yeah, like that's going to work.

This whole thing seems like an over-complicated, over-engineered technical solution to a cultural problem.

was_hellbanned• 12 years ago

In my opinion, the problem is that drivers, by and large, are absolutely terrible at driving. They're so bad at driving that they have no idea how bad they are at it.

We're a nation of self-promoting, self-obsessed, angry narcissists, incompetently sitting behind the wheel of multi-ton, wheeled death machines. We have a single license tier for a ridiculous variety of vehicle shapes and sizes. We have zero ongoing driver education requirements, and only require retesting if sufficient complaints are received (when's the last time that's even happened?) or we reach sufficient age.

Demand better driver training. Stop engaging in inane behavior when you have greater responsibilities. Demand that others in your life do so as well.

millstone• 12 years ago

People know they shouldn’t text and drive.

People know they shouldn't drink and drive either. But the legal BAC limit is not zero. We tolerate a small amount of increased risk to be able to enjoy a beer or glass of wine at a restaurant.

So why this absolutist, zero tolerance approach for texting? Are there no legitimate reasons for texting while driving?

I found out my wife was in labor via a text message that I received while driving. When I reached a stoplight, I sent back omw (expands to On my way!) and drove home instead.

Another time, I was returning home from a long road trip, and hit bad stop-and-go traffic. After sitting in it for fifteen minutes, I texted my wife to let her know I would be delayed.

Obviously texting while joyriding at 70 mph is stupid and ought to be illegal, but I don't see the harm in sending one or two quick messages while stopped or moving at very low speeds. We should have a balanced approach to texting while driving, like we do with alcohol.

lutusp• 12 years ago

Are there no legitimate reasons for texting while driving?

Not if you're driving -- it's inexcusable. It's hard enough to type on a small device's virtual keyboard while sitting at a desk without any distractions, much less while trying to move a massive, potentially lethal weapon along the public roads.

I don't see the harm in sending one or two quick messages while stopped or moving at very low speeds.

That's a classic slippery slope -- society would rightly forbid texting simply because different people would define "quick messages" and "very low speeds" differently.

nlh• 12 years ago

Just a commentary on the bigger picture: I strongly disagree with the notion that talking on the phone while driving is always bad (yes, I know, some people are particularly bad at it and shouldn't do it, but those people probably shouldn't be talking at all or...in many cases...driving at all.)

But texting while driving is really bad. I've done it far too much, and every single time I note how totally distracted, worse-performing, and basically crappy I am at the driving part (and I am a good driver when not distracted).

Why did I do it? Because for better or for worse, some people have gotten so used to this world of instant communications that if you don't reply quickly enough, they actually get concerned -- "why aren't you answering me? is everything ok?"

So my solution is twofold: 1. I've stopped responding to people so quickly. And if they protest, I explain: I was driving. Chill out. I'm fine. Everything is fine. 2. And if it really can't wait, I just make a call. "I'm driving - don't want to text. What's up?"

We really, really, really shouldn't be texting or writing emails while driving. It's bad news for everyone.

Trying to Hit the Brake on Texting While Driving

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