No Tech Panacea For Tech-Distracted Driving

The Washington Post features an article on the continuing problem of drivers distracted by technology, specifically by texting or even talking on the phone while at the wheel. The piece mentions a few apps designed to disable phones, or at least some phone features, when they detect sustained motion that might indicate that the user is driving. Trouble is, as the writer points out, these apps are trying to do a context-sensitive task (under the best of circumstances) with only the broadest of clues. Further, many of them require ongoing subscription fees, just to be able to disable phone functions — and yet feature override features simple enough for a driver to activate.

Comments

GPS?

[dskoll]

Most smartphones have a built-in GPS, so have it shut off the phone if it detects that it's moving at more than 20km/h or so.

Yes, this means that passengers, people on trains, etc. won't be able to use their smartphones. Gee, what a tragedy. A few hours of inconvenience is so awful to give up in return for reduced road carnage.

Or learn to do both

[C0R1D4N]

Posted from my tab while doing 70 down the garden state parkway.

Insanity

[undulato]

I was shocked when I first saw a GPS system stuck on the windscreen of a car - not least the first time I came to use one in conjunction with the other countless beeping proximity devices and seatbelt chimes and other distractions in modern automobiles. Add on a reversing camera and I simply don't know where to look at any one time.

How these devices came to be there and are still somehow legal I'll probably never know.