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New System Detects Calls While Driving

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the police-states dept.

Gary writes "Talking on your cellphone while driving isn't a crime in most states, but it should be. Studies have shown that people who drive and talk are many times more likely to have an accident. A new company is releasing a device to automatically detect drivers talking on their cell phones. Instead of police officers needing to observe a cellphone in use, the system automatically detects a cell phone call and records which car was making the call." The article is fairly light on details, but it would be interesting to see how the system differentiates from a driver talking on a cell phone versus a mere passenger.

3 of 421 comments (clear)

  1. The system does not zap/paintball your car. by e9th · · Score: 3, Informative

    The company's site explains (in annoying Flash) that the system merely photographs the car. Later, the photos are manually inspected to determine whether it was the driver who was using the phone.

  2. Re:Here it comes by Sunburnt · · Score: 4, Informative

    why not flood us with links to statistical studies proving your inferred point?

    I'll start.

    From the study:

    The principal findings for this experiment are that: (a) SPs [study participants] that engaged in cell phone conversations missed twice as many simulated traffic signals as when they were not talking on the cell phone, (b) SPs took longer to react to those signals that they did detect, and (c) these deficits were equivalent for both hand-held and hands-free cell phone users.
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  3. Re:Sooo... by Original+Replica · · Score: 3, Informative
    What about all the bluetooth headset providers? Most people bought the headsets specifically for driving.

    Headsets or speaker phones being safer while driving is a myth.

    "The principal findings for this experiment are that: (a) SPs that engaged in cell phone conversations missed twice as many simulated traffic signals as when they were not talking on the cell phone, (b) SPs took longer to react to those signals that they did detect, and (c) these deficits were equivalent for both hand-held and hands-free cell phone users." http://www.nsc.org/issues/idrive/inincell.htm


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