Tag Archives: texting

Feds Want End To Texting While Driving

Today, federal Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood proposed voluntary steps to establish new safety criteria for hands-free calling, navigation and entertainment systems in cars.

“Distracted driving is a dangerous and deadly habit on America’s roadways — that’s why I’ve made it a priority to encourage people to stay focused behind the wheel,” LaHood said.

Distracted driving deaths totaled 3,092 in 2010, the latest available figures show. But LaHood’s agency believes the total could be higher due to the unwillingness of drivers to always admit behavior, lack of witnesses to a crash in some cases, or the death of the driver.

Most U.S. motorists surveyed last year acknowledged few situations in which they would not use a cellphone or text while behind the wheel. However, they supported measures to curb both practices, the Transportation Department said.

La Hood’s proposal recommends disabling in-vehicle electronic devices that the driver could use when a car is moving. This would cover text messaging, Internet browsing, and access to social media.  The National Transportation Safety Board also recommended in December that certain hands-free and communication devices be banned in cars.

Cars That Drive Themselves

The February 2012 issue of Wired Magazine features a cover story about cars that drive themselves.  No longer a technology of the future, these cars are actually here already, navigating themselves through busy rush hour freeway traffic at 70 miles per hour.  And they’re doing it more safely than the human beings around them.

Google's Self-Driving Car

These cars utilize everything from radar to laser arrays to identify and track targets around them, and they can make 20 threat assessments every second.  Recently, I had a high school class take a hazard perception challenge in which I showed them a slide for four seconds and then asked them three questions about what they saw.  Whines and grumbles flared up with the first question, as students complained that that wasn’t enough time.  I then showed them several video clips in which unrecognized threats turned into crashes in less than two seconds – the idea being to reinforce how every second counts when driving for survival.

But, 20 threat assessments each second?  If there’s a human mind capable of matching that, I’ve never been in its company.

I’m one of those people who loves to drive.  I prefer a standard transmission to an automatic and would rather be on a curvy mountain road alone than on a crowded freeway.  But I’m keenly aware most people don’t share my passion for it.  Most people use their car simply to get them from one place to another as quickly as possible.  For them, automatic transmissions, power steering, ABS, electronic stability control and even automated parallel parking are welcome conveniences, elements of the driving task they are happy to hand over to computer control.

Nevada has become the first state to pass laws concerning self-driving cars – they’re exempt from anti-texting laws, for one.  As the Wired author puts it, “Maybe the problem is not that texting and Facebook are distracting us from driving. Maybe the problem is that driving distracts us from our digital lives.”

Read the full WIRED article online here.

What would you prefer?

Would you rather sign off from your digital world for an hour at a time and tackle the physical and cognitive tasks required to drive safely, or would you prefer to select your destination and let the car handle getting you there while you multitask through your commute?

 

 

It’s Official: Texting Is Illegal

We’ve all seen that person in traffic texting away while driving, eyes down to their lap, working the wheel with their forearms or knees, blissfully unaware of their surroundings and the danger they themselves have become to everyone around them.

Effective March 8, 2012, it is illegal to send, read or write a text message while driving in PA.  Here are the details:

  • PRIMARY OFFENSE: Police can pull you over if they suspect you of texting while driving.
  • ALL IWCDs: The law includes smart phones, cell phones, tablets…anything wireless that can send/receive text messages.
  • INCLUDES EMAIL: So don’t read those while moving either.
  • APPLIES TO ALL DRIVERS: not just commercial operators.

It’s a $50 fine each time you get caught texting, which is a lesser penalty than living with the guilt if your distraction kills someone.  If you know someone who texts regularly while driving, pass this on to them.