NHTSA and DOT Want Your Car To Be Able To Disable Your Cellphone Functions

savuporo writes "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation are considering technological solutions for people to stop using their cellphones while driving. Proximity detectors or requiring physical link with the car are the solutions under the scope. From the article: 'NHTSA wants automakers to make it impossible to enter text for messaging and internet browsing while the car is in motion, disable any kind of video functionality and prevent text-based information such as social media content or text messages from being displayed.' Obviously these regulations would need to go beyond cellphones, as laptop, tablet or any other gadget with a 3G data connection or even on a wi-fi hotspot made by your phone would be equally distracting."

Comments

Cut off our nose to spite our face ...

[BitZtream]

And I don't mean NHTSA or DOT here, I mean We, The People.

The messed up part is not that they are doing this ... it's that we are so freaking stupid and selfish that they have to do this.

No one driving their own car is so important that they even need to take phone calls while driving, let alone texts or other crap. People who are that important have drivers and assistants.

Its very sad that we've gotten ourselves as a country to be so oblivious to the world around us that the government has to step in and come up with ways to keep us from being morons when we step into a deadly weapon.

You can debate gun laws since the injuries caused by guns and nut jobs are relatively few and far between, so its at least worth discussing both sides of the equation. Even in America, and its craziest gun tote'n parts (which I've lived in), few people carry guns daily. On the other hand, everyone drives, and almost everyone texts/talks while driving, which is WAY more dangerous. Just look at the energy ratio alone! Most gun owners are not nutjobs ... drivers on the other hand seem to think its part of the requirements for the job.

I would like to stand up and yell that this is a ridiculous invasion of my personal space. It is a ridiculous invasion of my personal space.

Unfortunately, I have to side with NHTSA since I'd rather have my personal space invaded by a law than I would have it invaded by someone's ton and a half SUV because they were texting some cat picture instead of driving.