NHTSA and DOT Want Your Car To Be Able To Disable Your Cellphone Functions 405
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."
Re:Can't be done. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:First (Score:5, Informative)
Not if you're a service tech at a modern car dealer: For some makes, having the car have an Internet connection (to communicate with the manufacturer) is a currently useful diagnostic aid during a test drive when attempting to sort out driveability issues.
Re: First (Score:4, Informative)
Its clear, even from the summary, that the authorities want to disable specific functions on the phone so that calls to emergency services will still work.
Re:First (Score:5, Informative)
I must ask, why do you NEED an internet connection in your car?
Because I am a good father. The internet connection in the car allowed me to take a six week road trip with my wife and son. A trip that simply could not have happened if I couldn't have worked during the drive time between stops. The trip was both educational and an amazing bonding experience.
Re:First (Score:5, Informative)
2. Politicians (the kind who can convince the state to pay for a chauffeur for them, usually on the premise that it leaves them free to attend to important business while in transit)
Nah, they'll just vote an exemption for themselves [about.com]
car manufacturer lobbying (Score:4, Informative)
they want to sell in car phones and entertainment systems.
disable all tablets, smartphones etc in car-> you have to buy bolted in tablets from the car manufacturer.
Re:First (Score:4, Informative)
You do realize that people made road trips and had entertainment well before smart phones, tablets or even the Internet was invented, right?
You really will survive without it. Believe it or not, there was a time when there was no Internet at all! Yet, Human beings still made road trips, and raised their children without killing them. Even were capable of educating themselves.
I'm really not sure how the tablet your kid is staring at while you were focused on driving helped. You were focused on driving right? Or are you telling us that you are exactly the problem that needs correcting?
Amazingly enough, they allow women to drive, too, these days. Did it really never occur to you that maybe he was working while his wife drove, and the only other option was not to take the vacation at all? That's the only way I can read the GP.