| Jul 22 |
State laws, new technologies fight texting in distracted driving car crash accidentsby Bruce Westbrook
Add the last to life’s inevitabilities, because the times they are a-changing. Thirty states now ban texting while driving, and more technology is arising to take that foolish distracted driving habit out of drivers’ hands. The latest, reported by USA Today, is software designed to stop texting, emailing or web-browsing via wireless devices while a car is in motion. It’s being developed by an Irving, TX company called . and a Georgia company called Manage Mobility. Their technology is being offered to government agencies and corporations, which are trying to squelch the texting tide that’s causing thousands of traffic accident fatalities and injuries and billions of dollars in losses. Last fall, President Obama directed all federal employees driving government-owned vehicles not to text while driving — ever. The Department of Transportation also has banned bus drivers and diesel truck drivers from doing so. And corporations and companies are involved because they face liability if an employee causes a car crash when texting while driving. Too many people think certain laws apply to everyone but themselves, or believe they can master multi-tasking behind the wheel better than anyone else, even when that’s not a legal option. New technologies can take this reckless choice from their hands and reduce texting car crash accidents on our roads. Another such option is CellControl, a phone disabling system from obdEdge of Baton Rouge, LA. It involves downloading software into a cell phone — linked to a car’s computer system — which then disables it when a car is in motion. Other devices use a phone’s GPS to ascertain if it’s in motion faster than 5 or 10 miles per hour, as in a car. And Ford has developed a “Do Not Disturb” button on 2011 vehicles to enable drivers to block incoming calls and texts. Of course, these technologies largely require a driver to be compliant in the first place. They simply remove temptation and forgetfulness from the equation (“I thought my cell phone was off”). But such devices can be employed by government and businesses to ensure their employees toe the no-texting line. Unfortunately, some of the worst texters are teens — and teen drivers. Teens text like mad, boosting the nation’s 1.56 trillion texts sent in 2009. (How many of those conveyed important information?) And teens aren’t apt to drive in a government- or business-owned vehicle equipped with the burgeoning anti-texting technology. Thus, it behooves parents to put their feet down and guide their kids — for their own safety. The best teachers in the world can, and should be, a child’s parents, and they can teach that texting while driving is foolish, reckless and dangerous. Distracted driving can cut a promising life short in an instant — the mere instant’s distraction it takes to cause a fatal car crash. If you or a family member already has been injured by a distracted driver, you still can take action. Notify a distracted driving lawyer or car crash attorney with Jim S. Adler & Associates and seek the fair and just financial compensation you are legally due for your injuries. That, too, will send a message to distracted drivers, and that message is: Texting should be OAO (over and out). Leave a Reply |

Death. Taxes. Curbs on drivers texting.