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US Regulators Seek To Reduce Road Deaths With Smartphone 'Driving Mode' (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the bettering-things dept.

US regulators are seeking to reduce smartphone-related vehicle deaths with a new driving-safe mode that would block or modify apps to prevent them being a distraction while on the road. From a report on The Guardian:The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are to issue voluntary guidelines for smartphone makers, which will seek to restrict the apps and services accessible on a smartphone being used by a driver. US transport secretary Anthony Foxx said: "Your smartphone becomes so many different things that it's not just a communication device. Distraction is still a problem. Too many people are dying and being injured on our roadways." The NHTSA is hoping that Apple, Samsung and other popular smartphone manufacturers will adopt the guidelines in future smartphone and software releases. The so-called driving mode will block distractions such as social media, messages or email, stop the use of the keyboard for communication activities and also restrict access to websites, video and distracting graphics. The intention is that the driving mode will be adopted in a similar manner to the airplane mode common to most smartphones and connected devices, which restricts radio communications while airborne. Airplane mode has been a feature of smartphones since 2007.

11 of 291 comments (clear)

  1. Block everyone or the driver? by OffTheLip · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Seems like this is a difficult problem to solve. Ideally the individual has sense enough to make the obvious choice to not interact with their device while driving. Sadly, that has not proven to be the case.

    1. Re: Block everyone or the driver? by thundercattt · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not really. I mean anyone who plays Pokémon Go (kid does) knows as soon as you speed up in a car the app asks you if you are the passenger and you have to click ok to continue. Apps can incorporate this feature into theirs. As soon as you hit that speed up moment, the phone puts itself into airplane mode. This feature is disabled if Bluetooth or connected to hands free items.

  2. Disable maps by Snotnose · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Knowing how government works the first thing they'll disable while the car is moving is your navigation app.

  3. Please block portrait mode video by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd be happy with a feature that forces cellphones to shoot video in landscape orientation.

  4. Re:stupid and too late by geekmux · · Score: 4, Funny

    better put money in making autonomous vehicles more affordable...

    Well fuck it, let's just stop educating humans altogether. Clearly we should just give up on the human race and let the machines think for us now.

    Somehow I feel I should use the word "Millennial" in here too, just for the hell of it.

  5. All for education, but... by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Education is wonderful, but we can't fix stupid. Yet.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:All for education, but... by unixisc · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You can say that again. I was an insurance agent trainee 2 years ago, and often carpooled w/ my boss. She had reckless driving habits - watching videos on the phone, doing snapchat, and another trainee would happily play Candy Crush Saga when she was at the wheel. I would offer to drive so that they could happily play, sometimes they accepted, sometimes they declined. My boss' response was: "So far, I've never had any accidents"

    2. Re:All for education, but... by gnick · · Score: 5, Informative

      Without question, the examples you gave are irresponsible. However, the "DriveMode" function on my phone pissed me off bad enough in one swipe for me to kill it.

      Leaving home for someplace I've never been - Mapped it before leaving and checked the recommended route. Got someplace unfamiliar and went to check the map - I was greeted by a "stop light" hand and the caption, "It can wait." I then (while in traffic) had to figure out how to clear the damn DriveMode and set it to leave me the hell alone. This single experience soured me on DriveMode, at least as it's implemented on my phone (AT&T LG Vista).

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    3. Re:All for education, but... by Gription · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Any time you automate an ability you lose that ability." People will never become better at driving as they are less a part of the driving experience then they were even a decade ago.

      This all misses the bigger level of stupidity of a whole NHTSA mandated "new driving-safe mode". How does a smart phone know what seat you are sitting in? If you want to hear a big outcry put the restrictions in place and wait for the passengers in cars, buses, and trains start to whine.with a new driving-safe mode.

      Just dumb, dumb, dumb...

  6. This is not solved with software. by geekmux · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The solution here is rather simple. It's called real fucking punishment for the people hurting or killing other humans on the road in incidents where distracted driving was clearly the cause.

    Insurance companies should not cover any costs. The individual should have to. Suspended license for 12 months. On top of that, no US cellular carrier is legally allowed to issue offenders a phone in their name for a period of 6 months.

    Driving while operating cellular devices is already against the law. Enforcement is only effective with actual deterrents. If we had real punishment, we wouldn't have to be going to such extremes as motion-sensitive apps, or trying to figure out how to block the driver and let the precious snowflakes in the other seats continue to feed their cellular addictions.

  7. there are many other distractions. by anthony_greer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Before smartphones there were handheld cell phones, radios to be fiddled with, newspapers to be read, makeup to be applied, food to be eaten, and children in the back seat to be yelled at...all activities being done by people who have come very close to kitting me at one time or another....lets make and enforce law against distracted driving without singling out particular distractions.