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Will Your Car Tell You To Put Down the Phone?

Posted by timothy on from the but-you-can't-talk-through-a-hamburger dept.

crimeandpunishment writes with this story from the AP: "We know it's dangerous to text while driving, or talk on a cell phone without using a hands-free device. What if our car knew it as well, and warned us about it? Our cars buzz and beep at us when our seatbelts aren't buckled ... now there are new applications in the works that could lead to a warning if we're driving with a cell phone in our hand."

6 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. Up next... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Will Timothy post another article asking a vague, sensationalist question in the title? The answer may surprise you.

    1. Re:Up next... by Dahamma · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Pick your battles, man!

      I find a lot of Timothy's posts excruciatingly painful, too. But this one was unbiased, linked to a fairly interesting article, and by any stretch had a title that is completely typical of any print or online editorial "catch your eye" titles or leads. If anything commenters should be praising it as the kind of thing we want him to post on slashdot...

  2. Better to warn everyone else. by Kenja · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about the headlights flash when the driver is using their cell phone so everyone else knows to dive out of the way?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  3. Another attempt at a technical solution... by mvdwege · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's a social problem. No amount of gadgets is going to stop idiots from wanting to yammer away instead of paying attention; witness the mechanic in this discussion mentioning how many of those warning systems he disconnected.

    The solution is brutally simple: three strikes, and you're out. Three tickets for driving while on the phone? Lose your license. Need your car for work? You should have thought of that and moved to the side of the road before dividing your attention between traffic and your important conversation.

    Otherwise it is time for some good old vigilantism and just shoot them in the head. It's not as if they have any brains to splatter the inside of the car, so that keeps its resale value.

    Mart

    --
    "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
  4. Re:Quick! Lassie says they've fallen down the well by syousef · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm still a big proponent of the USD—the "universal safety device,"

    It's a railroad spike sticking straight out of the steering wheel.

    The way some people drive, they'd probably use it to hold their doughnuts and completely ignore the danger.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  5. Re:as it is by beuges · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No need for crazy car-stuck-on-crossing scenarios...

    - I'm driving, my passenger is on the phone, relaying landmarks to the person on the other side, and giving me directions as I drive. ("Ok, let me call you back after the next two turns and we've come to a safe stop because driver Runaway1956 doesn't want me to talk on the phone while he drives")
    - I'm driving, we pass a big traffic jam, my passenger calls others that we know will be taking the same route, advising them to take another route ("Yeah sorry dude, we saw the traffic jam you got stuck in 15 mins before you left the office, but I had to wait until Runaway1956 stopped the car in order to call and let you know about it and of course by then you were already stuck")

    Those are both completely legitimate scenarios of a passenger using the phone while the car is moving. You must be a bundle of joy, demanding that your passengers hand over their cellphones to be locked up until the car is at a safe stop.