Should cars block cellphones?
A state coroner in Australia has sparked debate by calling for cars to include kit to block mobile phone usage after an inquest into a road traffic fatality in which the driver was using a cellphone.
The inquest into the fatal road accident heard how a Volkswagen slowed suddenly and inexplicably whilst in the fast lane of a motorway and collided with a truck. It also heard the driver was using her phone at the time and was eleven minutes into the conversation when the collision occurred. Coroner Heather Spooner concluded that the distraction of using the phone while driving, albeit in hands-free mode, "is likely to have been a feature in the circumstances of the case" and called for cars to use cell-blocking technology while in motion. This raises the question, should we use further technology to protect ourselves from our own idiocy, or should we place more emphasis on personal responsibility?
We already have laws in the UK which make it illegal to use a hand-held phone while driving, (unless you are calling 999), but even though it carries a penalty of three points on the licence and a £100 fine, it is still an all too common sight on our roads. Given people's attachment to their mobiles, perhaps it would be more of a deterrent if police were to confiscate and crush the phone involved. You may not be aware that you are still committing the offence if you are stationary but with the engine running. The UK law also includes an offence of "causing or permitting" a driver to use a hand-held phone while driving. This can apply to employers who can be prosecuted if they permit their staff who drive for work to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving, or if their staff drive dangerously whilst using a phone system (hand held or hands free) installed by their employer.
If mobile phone usage is difficult to police, how will we deal with the emerging wearable technology such as Google Glass where you could, if you wanted to, be ogling YouTube videos of Miley Cyrus whilst speeding up the M6? The Department of Transport has said that using such a device would fall under the scope of careless or distracted driving and it is in discussion with police forces to stop drivers using this technology when behind the wheel. Meanwhile, in San Diego where the traffic police are notoriously strict, Cecilia Abadie has become the first driver to be ticketed for wearing Google Glass. The SDPD enforces the California state rules against "viewing a monitor whilst driving", (GPS and instruments built into the car are excluded from this restriction).
At a time when selfie is the cool word of the year, a disturbing trend on social networks is the emergence of "selfies while driving", or snapping a picture of yourself whilst speeding along the motorway. For instance, the picture sharing site, Instagram, has around 5,000 pictures hash-tagged "drivingselfies". From single frame photos, it is impossible to know if the car really was being driven at any great speed, or if the picture was taken by the driver themselves or a passenger, but certainly some were, and rather like "planking" of a couple of years ago, some people will go to extremes to gain crowd popularity.
27th November 2013
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.