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:First (Score:1, Interesting)
In Principal, No.
In Practice, Yes.
It is worth restricting passengers in order to take out drivers. I would rather not be able to text as a passenger than worry about getting ran over by some 16 year old in Moms ton and a half SUV because 'OMFG Becky is not even hot'
What I want is for people to not fuck with their phones (or anything else!) while driving. Since that isn't something that people seem to be doing, and I care more about not getting ran over and killed by some ignorant jackass who's selfish ass thinks he can drive while staring down at his phone. In order to prevent that, I am MORE THAN WILLING to not use my phone as a passenger.
I don't really want to have hard restrictions imposed on the driver, but apparently we as Americans are too stupid to know that driving is dangerous and requires attention, so we have to impose such stupid restrictions on them. If theres some collateral damage, so be it.
I have to be alive for any of this to matter, so I'll take not getting ran over as my first choice. People did live before cell phones and gadgets, even took long trips and played games that actually helped the driver pay attention to the road at that!
As somone below pointed out the hot spot for your cars internet connection, again I must ask, why do you NEED an internet connection in your car? You don't. I have one, its cool as shit, my radio even runs Android so it has apps! I know not to try and dick with any of it when driving. Other people don't seem to be that intelligent, and telling them why its unsafe doesn't seem to be working.
Pissing off a few geeks is worth it.
Re:First (Score:5, Interesting)
I absolutely agree, but the focus on phones has got to go. We are not trying to ban the use of phones in cars, we are trying to get the driver to pay attention to driving, and phones (right now) seem to be the biggest culprit. Banning phones in cars still leaves a million - 1 ways to distract a driver.
Rather than try to restrict the near endless possibilities for distraction, we need technology to ensure a driver's attention on the road. For instance, my phone (S3G) has a rather cool feature called Smart Stay; it basically uses the front camera to detect if I'm still looking at the screen, to help decide if the screen should lock.
This feature could be made to work for cars as well, detecting where the driver has his/her attention and (akin to seat belts) make an annoying sound, throttle the engine or whatever else seems to be an appropriate for a driver not paying attention. Obviously work needs to be done, but the general idea is there.
Re:First (Score:5, Interesting)
I use my phone's hotspot function to provide internet access for my kid's Android tablets and Nintendo DSi devices during long duration trips. Disabling all internet access would be a huge bummer resulting in even more "are we there yet?" situations then I already get. I also frequently stream music from my phone through my car's built-in stereo bluetooth. While we all want to save lives the reality is that "distracted driving" is caused not by technology but by human nature. Take away the tech and we'll just find some other distraction. Driving a car is so "second nature" in American culture that most of don't apply the level of concentration to the task that we should. Ever drive while juggling a hamburger and a soda?
My personal worst offense was over a decade ago when I pulled out my laptop and played a game of Quake 2 while "driving." In my defense, I was stuck behind an accident in a construction zone where traffic moved MAYBE three full meters during that two hour wait. Other drivers were out of their cars walking around so it seamed like a safe bet to pass the time with a distraction rather than get upset at the situation.
Re:First (Score:2, Interesting)
Really? So you think the general population ... most of which are using their cell phones while driving are smart enough to make intelligent decisions themselves ... even though the whole reason this is being brought up is due to the overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
I'm an arrogant prick because the evidence says that people are too stupid to pay attention to the road?
Really?
Re:First (Score:4, Interesting)
Almost as ready for a strawman argument where making murder illegal is the first step towards a total police state.
Re:Tech solution for a social problem (Score:5, Interesting)
Have the law enforcement officers doing their job.
Jail time for any driver caught texting while in motion.
So close, and yet so far. Guess what? If LEOs did their jobs, we wouldn't need cellphone laws at all. Drivers would simply be ticketed for driving like an asshole, regardless of reason, and not ticketed if they aren't driving like an asshole. See, here's the fundamental problem with a cellphone law: some people drive better while talking on the phone than do other people while focusing on nothing but driving. If the goal is to prevent incompetent driving, we need to institute some serious driver testing and retesting, and take away licenses from people who fail it. But that means that the vast majority of the elderly would have their licenses taken away, and they vote.
When you propose enforcement of a bad law, you are expressing a bad idea.