Should handheld cell phone conversations be prohibited while you are driving a motor vehicle? Two-three years ago I pitched the Woodstock City Council to establish a ban in Woodstock on the use of handheld cell phones by the driver of a moving vehicle. What reception did I get? I thought I was in a dead cell-phone zone! Silence. Not even a nod of a head from any one of the Council members.
An informal poll on AOL indicates that 65% of those voting are in favor of prohibiting such cell phone use. Admittedly, it’s not an unbiased poll. First you have to find it; then you have to be interested enough to click and vote.
Five states and Washington, D.C. now prohibit handheld cell phone usage by drivers of moving vehicles by State law. In other states certain cities are forbidding drivers' use of handheld cell phones. Many are already familiar with Chicago’s ban, which is being challenged in court began Hizzoner’s troops have not adequately posted signs alerting drivers to the law.
What states already prohibit cell phone use by drivers? California (effective July 2008), Connecticut, New Jersey ($250 fine!), New York, Washington (effective July 2008).
Some states also prohibit text-messaging by drivers. What kind of rocket scientist does it take to realize that a driver sending or receiving a text-message is not paying attention to driving the car? Why should a law prohibiting this even be necessary? Because a growing number of drivers are stupid enough to do it!
Next time you see a driver on the phone, watch out! This driver is distracted. You can judge the degree of distraction by the driver’s posture and involvement in the phone conversation. If the driver is animated, angry, gesturing repeatedly with the hand that is not holding the phone (who is steering the vehicle?!), also smoking, drinking coffee or soda, this is a driver heading toward an accident.
Be sure you are not in the way!
Dundee Township Hopefuls
5 hours ago
6 comments:
Don't forget the awful distractions of frantically looking in your mirrors trying to read license plate numbers . Oh, and taking pictures at stop signs/lights instead of paying attention to traffic. These are both HUGE problems. Well, everything you complain about is a huge problem so why can't this be too?
dont forget the hands free set frank uses. its the same thing, he just is not using his hands.
It is a big problem. BUT: efforts to institute legislation at the state level are blocked by a powerful media/communications lobby with major money. I know this because I wrote a newspaper column against driving/phoning, after seeing a driver on the phone go up onto a lawn and narrowly miss some kids with a Koolaid stand. My district's state representative wrote to me that he was being stymied by this lobby, and that it has infinite resources to power its efforts. Private citizens are helpless against this kind of political clout. Money talks, alas, even on the cellphone while driving.
lily, thanks for your insightful comment and for reading here. Common sense should lead drivers to safe driving practices. The problem is, they don't think.
Ever notice someone at a stop sign, handheld phone to the left ear, body twisted half-around to look for oncoming traffic, and lips just flapping away. Tell me this driver is really paying attention to the oncoming traffic, while the front of the car is stuck out into the intersection and creeping forward.
I watch the left front tire closely to see if it is moving, and I'm ready to take evasive action. And I don't mind using my horn to avoid an accident as I pass.
The problem is really not technology. The problem is business models that are legitimate in their area, but as they get combined by the consumer (With a nudge and a wink from Telecom and Automotive), which results in a clash that leads to crashes that leads to death, injuries and economic losses.
Hand free is leaps and bounds safer then hand held, despite what researchers playing video games in dark rooms with biased studies tell us. But Speech recognition is a hit and miss proposal that will lead to more distraction and frustration then any dreiver can afford.
I applaud the courage of legistlators who against all pressures enforce the hand free solution. Although it is a partial solution, it gives the driver a great adavantage when facing emergencies by avoiding some of the reasons that lead to accidents.
But, Courage and legislations is not enough. What is needed is funding to bring the alternate technology to the consumers and less arrogance on the part of Auto Industry and NHTSA to accept solutions from outside there spheres of influence.
What we need is middle ground that's based on safety.
This is where innovative thinking can come in to solve the problem by re-engineering our life behind the wheel while including teenagers as well as elderly into the solution. This Re-engineering should create order in the vehicle and give priority to driving tasks over other activities, but still enable other activities while helping keep/or even assuring Eyes on the Road and Hands on the Wheel.
We have developed, proved and globally patented a system that balances the entire driving experience with emphasis on safety, but still allowing drivers to use communication technologies while driving.
Our system has the following key features:
1- Hands are monitored to be on the steering wheel, this enables configuration to enable or disable devices when hands status is not compliant with safety.
2- The driver controls all accessories, including cell phones from “thumb gesture” on the steering wheel.
3- Incoming communications are silenced when Drivers are passing, merging, changing lanes, turn signal engaged, etc.(So as not to surprise the driver).
4- Any information, wether from a caller ID or navigation direction is given verbally to the driver so there's no need to look at a screen
5- System is calibrated to driver’s skills and experience so a teen aged driver is given certain allowances and elderly drivers are provided more assistant.
6- System is Geographically aware based on Navigation data of curves, lights, stop signs and other legal boundries and can warn driverns to slow down or modify behavior when distracted
7- The system can fits into a cell phone, and connects to the car network “CAN” physically or wirelessly and communicates with the steering thumb sensor in the same manner.
8- The system also detects signs of DUI from thre driver handling the steering wheel, heart, sweat, temp, gripping strength and steering corrections, and then reports the driver to police, activate the emergency lights and limit speed of the vehicle.
We need to stay connected to stay competitive, but we need to do it safety. What we need is to educate our legislative bodies to require a device like ours on every vehicle. Automotive and Telecom companies have been toying with speech recognitions for over two decades now, but the automotive environment is too harsh to allow a desktop environment to succeed.
We are looking for capital to produce an aftermarket version. 88% of people that see our demo say they’ll buy such a device while 87% think of it as the safest thing as compared to what’s out there. Please contact us on www.actplace.net .
Thank you: Mouhamad A. Naboulsi, president Applied Computer Technologies, Inc.
www.actplace.net
mouhamad a., many thanks for your posting. In too places here in the U.S., it is the driving that has become the distraction from the cell phone calls, text-messaging, laptop usage, dashboard dining, beverage consumption, putting on make-up, shaving, even reading newspapers and books. Good luck with your product!
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