8 ms·

Trying to Hit the Brake on Texting While Driving

33 points by srikar 12y ago

eli 12y ago
I honestly wonder whether mobile technology has contributed to this problem or whether it has just finally allowed us to measure "distracted driving" accidents accurately.
- malkia 12y ago
  Everyday for my very short route of 1.5 miles from work to home I see texting drivers. I don't like texting much myself, so I don't feel the urge to use the device for it, and I have now idea what would make these people stop?
  - e40 12y ago
    I walk 2 miles to and from work every day. I can tell you fiddling with phones is rampant along the path I walk. I often see people not yielding to me who are looking at their phones. If I weren't such a defensive walker, I might be dead now.
  - Spooky23 12y ago
    The other day, I saw an associate who has money problems and kids at home buying shampoo for $10 at CVS... The same shampoo is $5 at Wal-Mart. How do we stop parents from starving resources from their kids by buying overpriced stuff?
    - jdhendrickson 12y ago
      This is a perfect example of how badly comment quality has degraded on hacker news.
      - thaumasiotes 12y ago
        I read it as some deserved ridicule of malkia's comment.
        tzs 12y ago
        What exactly about malkia's comment deserved ridicule?
        malkia 12y ago
        That I drive for 1.5 miles only, but I have my own reasons :) which I won't put here... since they are ridiculous (lol).
      - Spooky23 12y ago
        It's a little satire of how serious issues get dumbed down by Sally Struthers appeals to "think of the children". As I pointed out in another post in the thread, technical controls are last ditch place to enforce policy. You could take the same lame "the children!" Argument and apply it to speeding (why not govern speed in cars?) or food service (make it impossible to undercook an egg) or a thousand other things.
    - MarkSweep 12y ago
      That's a false equivalence. Someone's bad driving can kill me. Someone's bad purchasing decisions can't ( at least in the short term).
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
yzzxy 12y ago
This is smart. Cellular jamming is mega-illegal in the US (even in prisons![0]), and when I first read through this article I missed part of the first paragraph and couldn't understand how this product could be sold. However, the idea of working with network providers is great, and opens the door to a lot more options, such disabling cellphones in bars, resturants, etc. based on complex filters (e.g., allow "emergency" texts or only from close family). I bet the movie theater industry will jump on this quickly. [0] http://www.wired.com/2010/03/prison-mobile-phone-debate-jammed-up-in-the-system/ http://www.wired.com/2010/03/prison-mobile-phone-debate-jamm...
- superuser2 12y ago
  Why is it the responsibility or even the right of carriers to deny people the service they pay for simply because it annoys you? Texting while driving is a public safety hazard, and that's pretty unambiguous. From where do you derive the right to control what I do in a bar or restauraunt?
  - e40 12y ago
    Why is it the responsibility or even the right of carriers to deny people the service they pay for simply because it annoys you? Exactly!! Are we so immature that we can't take responsibility for our own behavior and want laws and systems to do for us what we should do for ourselves?
    - rayiner 12y ago
      Because a sufficiently large percentage of the population is shitbags.
      - RichardFord 12y ago
        Yeah, it's always the other guy that needs strict parenting from the government right?
        12y ago
iopq 12y ago
Give me an insurance rate reduction and I'll bite.
Spooky23 12y ago
This is the knee-jerk reaction de jure of our age. New York has made it a very serious moving violation (5 points, equivalent to speeding 40 mph over the limit) to have any electronic device in your hand. It's ok to use devices affixed to the dashboard, including GPS devices. If your a teenaged driver, you automatically get a 60 day suspension. Using technical controls to govern behavior is bad policy. There's a reason why jamming radio signals is a serious crime -- it's too easy to make unanticipated mistakes.
thinkling 12y ago
The article mentions that even people who agree that texting is a bad idea find that they have trouble stopping themselves from doing it. These folks could limit distraction from incoming texts and calls by turning on "Do Not Disturb" mode. I'd actually appreciate a mobile OS feature which lets through incoming text messages and auto-replies saying "I'm driving right now, I'll get back to you when I safely can." Is this problem largely going to go away as voice control of phones (and car integration) get better?
- nemeth88 12y ago
  Windows Phone does this - when paired with a list of specified Bluetooth devices (such as a car GPS or stereo), it can switch to a DND mode automatically with an optional auto-reply. Motorola seems to have recently rolled out a similar feature across it's entire Moto G/E/X product line - Drive Mode for their Moto Assist product. But unless these kind of features become opt-out, I suspect it won't help that much. Right now you have to actively seek them out and turn them on, which many people aren't going to do.
- psychometry 12y ago
  Does texting need auto-reply? There's no cultural assumption of an instant reply over that medium.
  - click170 12y ago
    Though I wish that you were right without exception, my experience is that at least for some people this does not hold true.
  - Swizec 12y ago
    Texting has largely replaced phonecalls. Therefore most people expect you to get back to them within a couple of minutes, not hours. I have used, and have seen others use, texting in real-time applications where immediate response is required. Like texting someone that you're at the door (and the bell doesn't work) instead of calling them. Generally the younger you go, the more texting is expected to be instant communication.
cenhyperion 12y ago
To me this is akin to limiting all vehicles to under 70 MPH to ensure no one speeds recklessly. The solution is to train our drivers better and start actually pulling people over for using phones while driving, not cripple the capabilities of the technology we have.
AshFurrow 12y ago
> At that point, Katasi generally doesn’t block the messages on the assumption that the passenger will prevent the driver from texting. Yeah, like that's going to work. This whole thing seems like an over-complicated, over-engineered technical solution to a cultural problem.
was_hellbanned 12y ago
In my opinion, the problem is that drivers, by and large, are absolutely terrible at driving. They're so bad at driving that they have no idea how bad they are at it. We're a nation of self-promoting, self-obsessed, angry narcissists, incompetently sitting behind the wheel of multi-ton, wheeled death machines. We have a single license tier for a ridiculous variety of vehicle shapes and sizes. We have zero ongoing driver education requirements, and only require retesting if sufficient complaints are received (when's the last time that's even happened?) or we reach sufficient age. Demand better driver training. Stop engaging in inane behavior when you have greater responsibilities. Demand that others in your life do so as well.
millstone 12y ago
> People know they shouldn’t text and drive. People know they shouldn't drink and drive either. But the legal BAC limit is not zero. We tolerate a small amount of increased risk to be able to enjoy a beer or glass of wine at a restaurant. So why this absolutist, zero tolerance approach for texting? Are there no legitimate reasons for texting while driving? I found out my wife was in labor via a text message that I received while driving. When I reached a stoplight, I sent back omw (expands to On my way!) and drove home instead. Another time, I was returning home from a long road trip, and hit bad stop-and-go traffic. After sitting in it for fifteen minutes, I texted my wife to let her know I would be delayed. Obviously texting while joyriding at 70 mph is stupid and ought to be illegal, but I don't see the harm in sending one or two quick messages while stopped or moving at very low speeds. We should have a balanced approach to texting while driving, like we do with alcohol.
- lutusp 12y ago
  > Are there no legitimate reasons for texting while driving? Not if you're driving -- it's inexcusable. It's hard enough to type on a small device's virtual keyboard while sitting at a desk without any distractions, much less while trying to move a massive, potentially lethal weapon along the public roads. > I don't see the harm in sending one or two quick messages while stopped or moving at very low speeds. That's a classic slippery slope -- society would rightly forbid texting simply because different people would define "quick messages" and "very low speeds" differently.
nlh 12y ago
Just a commentary on the bigger picture: I strongly disagree with the notion that talking on the phone while driving is always bad (yes, I know, some people are particularly bad at it and shouldn't do it, but those people probably shouldn't be talking at all or...in many cases...driving at all.) But texting while driving is really bad. I've done it far too much, and every single time I note how totally distracted, worse-performing, and basically crappy I am at the driving part (and I am a good driver when not distracted). Why did I do it? Because for better or for worse, some people have gotten so used to this world of instant communications that if you don't reply quickly enough, they actually get concerned -- "why aren't you answering me? is everything ok?" So my solution is twofold: 1. I've stopped responding to people so quickly. And if they protest, I explain: I was driving. Chill out. I'm fine. Everything is fine. 2. And if it really can't wait, I just make a call. "I'm driving - don't want to text. What's up?" We really, really, really shouldn't be texting or writing emails while driving. It's bad news for everyone.

33 points by srikar 12y ago

eli 12y ago

I honestly wonder whether mobile technology has contributed to this problem or whether it has just finally allowed us to measure "distracted driving" accidents accurately.

malkia 12y ago
Everyday for my very short route of 1.5 miles from work to home I see texting drivers. I don't like texting much myself, so I don't feel the urge to use the device for it, and I have now idea what would make these people stop?
- e40 12y ago
  I walk 2 miles to and from work every day. I can tell you fiddling with phones is rampant along the path I walk. I often see people not yielding to me who are looking at their phones. If I weren't such a defensive walker, I might be dead now.
- Spooky23 12y ago
  The other day, I saw an associate who has money problems and kids at home buying shampoo for $10 at CVS... The same shampoo is $5 at Wal-Mart. How do we stop parents from starving resources from their kids by buying overpriced stuff?
  - jdhendrickson 12y ago
    This is a perfect example of how badly comment quality has degraded on hacker news.
    - thaumasiotes 12y ago
      I read it as some deserved ridicule of malkia's comment.
      - tzs 12y ago
        What exactly about malkia's comment deserved ridicule?
        malkia 12y ago
        That I drive for 1.5 miles only, but I have my own reasons :) which I won't put here... since they are ridiculous (lol).
    - Spooky23 12y ago
      It's a little satire of how serious issues get dumbed down by Sally Struthers appeals to "think of the children". As I pointed out in another post in the thread, technical controls are last ditch place to enforce policy. You could take the same lame "the children!" Argument and apply it to speeding (why not govern speed in cars?) or food service (make it impossible to undercook an egg) or a thousand other things.
  - MarkSweep 12y ago
    That's a false equivalence. Someone's bad driving can kill me. Someone's bad purchasing decisions can't ( at least in the short term).

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

yzzxy 12y ago

This is smart. Cellular jamming is mega-illegal in the US (even in prisons![0]), and when I first read through this article I missed part of the first paragraph and couldn't understand how this product could be sold. However, the idea of working with network providers is great, and opens the door to a lot more options, such disabling cellphones in bars, resturants, etc. based on complex filters (e.g., allow "emergency" texts or only from close family). I bet the movie theater industry will jump on this quickly. [0] http://www.wired.com/2010/03/prison-mobile-phone-debate-jammed-up-in-the-system/ http://www.wired.com/2010/03/prison-mobile-phone-debate-jamm...

superuser2 12y ago
Why is it the responsibility or even the right of carriers to deny people the service they pay for simply because it annoys you? Texting while driving is a public safety hazard, and that's pretty unambiguous. From where do you derive the right to control what I do in a bar or restauraunt?
- e40 12y ago
  Why is it the responsibility or even the right of carriers to deny people the service they pay for simply because it annoys you? Exactly!! Are we so immature that we can't take responsibility for our own behavior and want laws and systems to do for us what we should do for ourselves?
  - rayiner 12y ago
    Because a sufficiently large percentage of the population is shitbags.
    - RichardFord 12y ago
      Yeah, it's always the other guy that needs strict parenting from the government right?
      - 12y ago

iopq 12y ago

Give me an insurance rate reduction and I'll bite.

Spooky23 12y ago

This is the knee-jerk reaction de jure of our age. New York has made it a very serious moving violation (5 points, equivalent to speeding 40 mph over the limit) to have any electronic device in your hand. It's ok to use devices affixed to the dashboard, including GPS devices. If your a teenaged driver, you automatically get a 60 day suspension. Using technical controls to govern behavior is bad policy. There's a reason why jamming radio signals is a serious crime -- it's too easy to make unanticipated mistakes.

thinkling 12y ago

The article mentions that even people who agree that texting is a bad idea find that they have trouble stopping themselves from doing it. These folks could limit distraction from incoming texts and calls by turning on "Do Not Disturb" mode. I'd actually appreciate a mobile OS feature which lets through incoming text messages and auto-replies saying "I'm driving right now, I'll get back to you when I safely can." Is this problem largely going to go away as voice control of phones (and car integration) get better?

nemeth88 12y ago
Windows Phone does this - when paired with a list of specified Bluetooth devices (such as a car GPS or stereo), it can switch to a DND mode automatically with an optional auto-reply. Motorola seems to have recently rolled out a similar feature across it's entire Moto G/E/X product line - Drive Mode for their Moto Assist product. But unless these kind of features become opt-out, I suspect it won't help that much. Right now you have to actively seek them out and turn them on, which many people aren't going to do.
psychometry 12y ago
Does texting need auto-reply? There's no cultural assumption of an instant reply over that medium.
- click170 12y ago
  Though I wish that you were right without exception, my experience is that at least for some people this does not hold true.
- Swizec 12y ago
  Texting has largely replaced phonecalls. Therefore most people expect you to get back to them within a couple of minutes, not hours. I have used, and have seen others use, texting in real-time applications where immediate response is required. Like texting someone that you're at the door (and the bell doesn't work) instead of calling them. Generally the younger you go, the more texting is expected to be instant communication.

cenhyperion 12y ago

To me this is akin to limiting all vehicles to under 70 MPH to ensure no one speeds recklessly. The solution is to train our drivers better and start actually pulling people over for using phones while driving, not cripple the capabilities of the technology we have.

AshFurrow 12y ago

> At that point, Katasi generally doesn’t block the messages on the assumption that the passenger will prevent the driver from texting. Yeah, like that's going to work. This whole thing seems like an over-complicated, over-engineered technical solution to a cultural problem.

was_hellbanned 12y ago

In my opinion, the problem is that drivers, by and large, are absolutely terrible at driving. They're so bad at driving that they have no idea how bad they are at it. We're a nation of self-promoting, self-obsessed, angry narcissists, incompetently sitting behind the wheel of multi-ton, wheeled death machines. We have a single license tier for a ridiculous variety of vehicle shapes and sizes. We have zero ongoing driver education requirements, and only require retesting if sufficient complaints are received (when's the last time that's even happened?) or we reach sufficient age. Demand better driver training. Stop engaging in inane behavior when you have greater responsibilities. Demand that others in your life do so as well.

millstone 12y ago

> People know they shouldn’t text and drive. People know they shouldn't drink and drive either. But the legal BAC limit is not zero. We tolerate a small amount of increased risk to be able to enjoy a beer or glass of wine at a restaurant. So why this absolutist, zero tolerance approach for texting? Are there no legitimate reasons for texting while driving? I found out my wife was in labor via a text message that I received while driving. When I reached a stoplight, I sent back omw (expands to On my way!) and drove home instead. Another time, I was returning home from a long road trip, and hit bad stop-and-go traffic. After sitting in it for fifteen minutes, I texted my wife to let her know I would be delayed. Obviously texting while joyriding at 70 mph is stupid and ought to be illegal, but I don't see the harm in sending one or two quick messages while stopped or moving at very low speeds. We should have a balanced approach to texting while driving, like we do with alcohol.

lutusp 12y ago
> Are there no legitimate reasons for texting while driving? Not if you're driving -- it's inexcusable. It's hard enough to type on a small device's virtual keyboard while sitting at a desk without any distractions, much less while trying to move a massive, potentially lethal weapon along the public roads. > I don't see the harm in sending one or two quick messages while stopped or moving at very low speeds. That's a classic slippery slope -- society would rightly forbid texting simply because different people would define "quick messages" and "very low speeds" differently.

nlh 12y ago

Just a commentary on the bigger picture: I strongly disagree with the notion that talking on the phone while driving is always bad (yes, I know, some people are particularly bad at it and shouldn't do it, but those people probably shouldn't be talking at all or...in many cases...driving at all.) But texting while driving is really bad. I've done it far too much, and every single time I note how totally distracted, worse-performing, and basically crappy I am at the driving part (and I am a good driver when not distracted). Why did I do it? Because for better or for worse, some people have gotten so used to this world of instant communications that if you don't reply quickly enough, they actually get concerned -- "why aren't you answering me? is everything ok?" So my solution is twofold: 1. I've stopped responding to people so quickly. And if they protest, I explain: I was driving. Chill out. I'm fine. Everything is fine. 2. And if it really can't wait, I just make a call. "I'm driving - don't want to text. What's up?" We really, really, really shouldn't be texting or writing emails while driving. It's bad news for everyone.