Will Your Car Tell You To Put Down the Phone?

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."

Comments

This story...

[bmo]

How far have we drifted from "news for nerds, stuff that matters."

This isn't news.
It doesn't fucking matter.

In other actual news:

There have been two suicide bombings in Moscow's metro this Monday morning rush hour.
All 4 of the Rio Tinto executives on trial in China have been found guilty of bribery, with a 30 year possible maximum sentence.

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BMO

Re:What a waste of effort.

[fearlezz]

As a non-mechanic, I have disabled the seat belt warning on my own car. I'm mostly driving a few kilometers, I don't like to buckle up for a 1-minute drive. So i plugged the passengers belt in the drivers sensor. No reminders. :-)

You may build any system, if it restricts users, it's annoying. It it's annoying users, people will get their way around it.
I just heard a story this weekend about gramps, who used an industrial machine which had 2 buttons to make sure the user's hands weren't in the way. It took too long to press both buttons every time, so he "fixed" one button with some duct tape. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, as he got injured, but it proves that systems that are too annoying, will get "fixed".

Furthermore, your car could detect a phone. But would it detect that you're eating a Big Mac at the wheel? Or that you're looking up your favorite song in your iPod? Or that your kids are fighting in the back seat, having your attention?