Virtual Death

"Several studies have shown that distractions while driving, such as using cell phones or texting, can be dangerous. New research confirms these findings among teens".

A virtual test was done for 21 teenage drivers. This test is similar to the experiment I plan on doing myself, however, I'm sure that this test is a bit more efficient because of the technology that was used. The virtual test was conducted in a driving simulator, and had 21 teens drive through a virtual test course. During the course, they were given distracting tasks such as searching through an mp3 player and such as using the texting features of a cell phone. "Similar studies have found that adults who talk on cell phones while driving in simulators perform as dismally as drunken study particpants".

Instead of summarizing the article, I will use the last paragraph because it acts as a very useful article summary in itself. "What this study demonstrates is that not only does your speed go up and down, you're swinging wide left and right," said Dr. Donald Lewis, of the Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, Va.. "You're a hazardous driver, to yourself and everybody else."

http://www.livescience.com/health/090504-texting-driving.html

Where to Draw the Line?

Like we've seen before, the government is trying to force individual states to place a ban on using cell phone devices (or the like) to text message. If they follow through with the ban, they will continue to receive money to fix, clean, and rebuild federal highways. The situation gets a bit slippery when determining what exactly to ban?

Now obviously the standard cell phone will be banned, and its text messaging features banished. Exiled along with the trusty cell phone is the blackberry, iPhone, and all touch screen type devices. The idea is to minimize the amount of "distracted-driving" that Americans are doing. While driving at a high speed on a highway, just taking your eyes off the road for a few seconds can cause approx. 100 yards of blind driving.

Distracted driving is not simply texting however, it includes any activity that causes you to take your eyes off the road. That is essentially where this article comes into play. Truckers have small computers inside their cabs that help them keep on schedule, find their next location, and keep close contact with dispatchers. The drivers claim that the computer is not distracting, but "After videotaping truckers behind the wheel, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that those who used on-board computers faced a 10 times greater risk of crashing, nearly crashing or wandering from their lane than truckers who did not use those devices."

This distracted driving is not to set up the nights social events, but rather to keep on schedule and make a living. If drivers pulled over to use their computer every time they needed to, they would lose approximately 1/4 of their time on the road. My question to you... When lives are at risk, does it make a difference if the distracted driving is to make a dinner date or to make a living??

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/technology/28truckers.html?_r=1

Possibly the Answer??

A new technology is being worked on that could possibly save many lives and many auto-accidents. The technology is a system that can both send messages to the outbox and read messages from the inbox aloud. It is a program that links to your cellphone, and will actually read you incoming messages and will type messages based on your voice. It seems like a voicemail type program, but smarter because it does not just record and store messages.. it reads, writes, talks, and sends messages.

The company jumping on the genious idea is called ATX, a company that already provides technology for some of the leaders in the auto industry such as Lexus, Mercedes Benz, and Rolls Royce. The next thing I wonder is how much will a program like this cost? And will people be willing to spend the money? Most people have that "it will never happen to me attitude", and I cannot see why an auto accident caused by texting would be any different. I'm interested to see what the future will bring.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10296369-48.html

Dangers of Driving and Texting

This is yet another article about the dangers of texting and driving, but there are many more statistics and information that most other articles. I am going to do my project on the phenomena that is texting and driving, and will find articles for the next few weeks pertaining to this topic. Hope I don't bore you too much with the repetitive articles... Something interesting that I found was that insurance companies are now researching phone company records so that they can determine if their insured was texting while the accident occurred. This is important because they will drop your claim and make you pay for the damages if they find you to be texting and driving at the time of your accident.

A new system is being developed and will be on shelves soon. This system can read all emails, text messages...etc and acts like a mobile secretary for your vehicle in case your business on the phone is too important to wait until parked.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

-Experts say driving while texting is leading factor in accidents

-Four states actively attempting to ban driving while texting

-Studies show 46 percent of drivers ages 16 to 17 admit to texting while driving

-Electronic Virtual Assistant lets you dictate text message responses

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/11/14/aa.texting.while.driving/index.html