Apps for texting/driving (Article)

[FireChief]

Found this article today:

Check out the iPhone 'comparison' statement:

"...there are a few smartphone programs that can help. iPhone users, however, are pretty much on their own. That

 

[lunameow]

Would love to sneak my friend's phone away from him and install one of the "shut down everything" apps. He texts non-stop while driving down the highway at 80mph. He's been in three wrecks in the past six months, five in the past year, all of them his fault, all of them because he was texting and either didn't notice the person in front of him slow down, or veered off the road and hit the divider. If he's not smart enough to stop after that, he won't be smart enough to figure out how to uninstall the app.

(Of course, he's just as likely to crash while trying to figure out why his phone won't text, so maybe not.)

 

[biggpat86]

i text and drive quite often, but i use some damn tact ya know? i keep my phone HIGH in the air as i text, like right below my rear view mirror. screw anti texting and driving apps. push comes to shove, just call the people that are blowing up your inbox.

 

[amlothi]

People still use their cell phone while driving? Pull over and stop the damn car!

Whatever you are using your phone to do (call/text/email/whatever) is either:

1. Important enough to take one minute, pull off the road, and stop the car.
2. Not important enough to risk injury or death to yourself, your passengers, and the other innocent people around you.

Yeah, yeah. I know. Everyone thinks they are the exception and that they are fully capable of using their phone while driving. You are wrong. Your brain simply isn't wired that way and you are not "special". (I don't care what your mom told you.) It's called illusory superiority. Look it up (or see below).

Cell phones as dangerous as drunk driving | News Blog - CNET News

The study, published in the June 29 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, found that drivers talking on cell phones, either handheld or hands-free, are more likely to crash because they are distracted by conversation.

Researchers found that the drivers on cell phones drove more slowly, braked more slowly and were more likely to crash. In fact, the three participants who collided into the pace car were chatting away. None of the drunken drivers crashed.

http://www.distraction.gov/research/PDF-Files/Comparison-of-CellPhone-Driver-Drunk-Driver.pdf

Drivers using a cell phone exhibited a delay in their response to events in the driving scenario and were more likely to be involved in a traffic accident. Drivers in the alcohol condition exhibited a more aggressive driving style, following closer to the vehicle immediately in front of them, necessitating braking with greater force

Illusory superiority - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Svenson (1981) surveyed students in Sweden and the United States, asking them to compare their driving safety and skill to the other people in the experiment. For driving skill, 93% of the US sample and 69% of the Swedish sample put themselves in the top 50% (above the median). For safety, 88% of the US group and 77% of the Swedish sample put themselves in the top 50%.

almost 80% of participants had evaluated themselves as being above the average driver

In ratings of leadership ability 70% of the students put themselves above the median and in ability to get on well with others 85% put themselves above the median and 25% rated themselves in the top 1%.

You are not special. You just think you are.


If this was a matter of you only risking your own life, I'd say go ahead. Darwinism and all that. Get your genes out of my pool.

But it isn't. I hope you don't injure me or harm someone I care about. If you do, you'd better hope I don't find you.

 

[Rheklas1]

I never understood how experts say that having a conversation on a phone while driving is dangerous, and yet it is perfectly safe to hold a conversation with someone in the car. People are more likely to take their eyes off the road during a face to face conversation by turning to look at the other person. By the logic of phone calls being dangerous, then anything going on in the car would be a distraction, including the radio. And yet, interestingly enough, when was the last time any manufacturer made a vehicle WITHOUT a radio?

 

[amlothi]

I never understood how experts say that having a conversation on a phone while driving is dangerous, and yet it is perfectly safe to hold a conversation with someone in the car.

Well, here. Perhaps this will help you to understand.

The driver is able to adjust to the traffic conditions. The passenger, being in the car, is also able to adjust. They are also another set of eyes on the road. I believe studies show that it's safer to have a passenger in the car than to drive by yourself.

Also, if you are in heavy traffic at high speed, the driver will likely not look down to adjust the radio in that instant. They will wait until traffic conditions are safer. At least, they should. (I realize not everyone will do this, but certainly some will.)

They've actually done studies on this. So, since you seem to want an answer, I suggest you read them. I've quoted some of the pertinent info that I found doing a quick search.


http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xap144-drews.pdf

http://www.distraction.gov/research/PDF-Files/Passenger-Cellphone-Conversations.pdf

The results show that the number of driving errors was highest in the
cell phone condition; in passenger conversations more references were made to traffic, and the production
rate of the driver and the complexity of speech of both interlocutors dropped in response to an increase
in the demand of the traffic. The results indicate that passenger conversations differ from cell phone
conversations because the surrounding traffic not only becomes a topic of the conversation, helping
driver and passenger to share situation awareness, but the driving condition also has a direct influence
on the complexity of the conversation, thereby mitigating the potential negative effects of a conversation
on driving.

Car Conversations

 

[takeshi]

I never understood how experts say that having a conversation on a phone while driving is dangerous, and yet it is perfectly safe to hold a conversation with someone in the car. People are more likely to take their eyes off the road during a face to face conversation by turning to look at the other person. By the logic of phone calls being dangerous, then anything going on in the car would be a distraction, including the radio. And yet, interestingly enough, when was the last time any manufacturer made a vehicle WITHOUT a radio?

Try reading the studies rather than just the standard counter arguments.

 

[lunameow]

I really don't get why people try to justify texting while driving. It's dangerous, study after study has proven it's dangerous, and yet they still want to insist "not when I do it!" It's as ludicrous as the argument that "I drive better when I'm drunk because I'm more careful!"

And the radio thing? Give it about two second of thought, and you'll get the answer: a radio doesn't require you to focus on it.

 

[FireChief]

I will admit: I text while driving. I try to limit it to areas where traffic is extremely light. (much of my driving is in rural areas). I do some 'rationalization' in my mind that I am safer at it then the 'next guy' but I KNOW that the increased risk is there. Anyone who says they can text and drive without increasing the risk of a collision is not accepting the truth. I should just stop texting while driving all together.. I have been using the 'start-talking' app lately, which is pretty good as far as these type of apps go. No need to touch the phone to send a message, or 'hear' one..

BUT, something we don't think about too much is:

What if EVERYONE was texting and driving? Add up the risk and you have a pretty scary situation.

So, the point is: Driving is risky enough, there are a lot of things YOU have to watch out for.... The more distracted you are from "watching out," the more likely you are going to get "caught" by surprise. Now, throw a few people on the same street who are doing the same thing, i.e. 'not watching out' very well. Bad situation. There you are, texting and staying in your lane, doing it 'right,' .. THEN, the joker in the opposing lane thinks he can take a left turn in front of you; he was distracted while texting and 'thought' he saw a left turn signal..

By the time you saw him it was too late to make an evasive maneuver.. If YOU had been paying attention better, perhaps you could have missed him?

Yes, 'anything' can happen, at any time: I understand that.

But, when I/you/we/they text while driving, the chances of 'anything' happening increase big time.

Oh, and if that collision occurs, better to be driving the truck in my avatar, instead of a Yaris! (inside joke)

 

[downeaststudio]

I downloaded vlingo for free from the android market. The package iincludes an in car mode where you can control virtually every function of your phone with a simple voice command (ie: send text to "person", "message"). I don't see what all the fuss is about, if you can talk to your phone and it follows your comands to the letter and will even read your messages back to you, then I would think that that's a safer way to go than fumbling with your phone while driving.

 

[downeaststudio]

Oh, yeah, and the other thing I don't quite understand is what's with people with video screens watching movies while they drive, or with a big gps screen in their face, do they really think that's any better?