In previous articles, I have written of my support for a total ban on the use of any handheld device when one is operating a motor vehicle. In these articles I pointed out my personal view that smartphones, especially when it comes to texting, are a distraction to the driver. In addition, I also believe that to safely operate any vehicle without endangering those around him, the driver should have two hands on the wheel at all times. These are general safety concerns, since texting, talking on your cellphone, or eating can result in inattention leading to the death of others if you are responsible for running a stop sign or veering off the road.
Recently, however, in an attempt to stop the madness that results in some 3,000 deaths annually, “Big Brother” in the form of the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) suggested the implementation of a statute that would require auto makers to install ‘jamming’ devices in all newly manufactured vehicles. To implement this law, it explored several options, some of which included the following proposals:
- Disabling any automobile features that allow the driver to use or access handheld electronic devices. It did, however, allow that passengers should be allowed reasonable access to the device in case of an emergency.
- Other members volunteered the need to limit the jamming device to only affect those times that the vehicle is in motion while allowing access whenever the vehicle is in the parked position.
- With this disabling feature, it wants to prevent the ability to surf the Internet, view social media sites, perform manual texting, and/or the manual dialing of a 10-digit phone number. In some form, it also wanted to disable the use of manual entry into a GPS unit until the vehicle is in a parked mode.
Though the technology is available to implement these proposals, one must stop and think just how far this could be taken. Could lawmakers use this as a jumping off point to limit drivers from performing other tasks, like eating a burger with one hand and drinking a Coke in the other, since it could obviously be another cause of inattention? The problem with inattentive driving was seen after a surge in Forsyth, Missouri’s traffic accident statistics. As a result, the city’s Aldermen imposed an ordinance directed at distracted drivers. This ordinance allows the police department to cite and fine distracted drivers who are found responsible for an accident or injury to a person or their property. However, due to the innovative approach to the problem, it is currently unclear how this ordinance will be intepreted by the courts.
The unfortunate thing is that all of these proposals will interfere with people’s current need for constant communication and as a result will probably not keep them from using their cellphones when driving. It’s too bad that safety concerns can’t take precedence since not many years ago we all relied on answering machines in order to return missed calls. However, the ability to talk and text has polarized the human race to such an extent that people have become one with their machines and allowed them to consume their existence 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
So what is the right answer to the problem? I believe the answer is rather simple. In fact, a group of kids has already set parameters in place that could provide a satisfactory solution. The ideas included the following suggestions:
- Enforce a law that prohibits eating and/or drinking while the vehicle is moving.
- Fine anyone who is using a handheld device of any type or require that they perform community service to an organization that assists victims of traffic accidents.
- Design a device that can be retrofitted to fit any existing automobile and will prevent someone from using electronic devices when the car is in motion.
- Obtain government funding so that the cost to the consumer is limited — similar as to what was done when we changed over to digital TV.
So what is this magic cure? It is called SMARTwheel and is basically a simple design. The SMART stands for:
- Safe
- Motorist
- Alert for
- Restrictive
- Texting
The SMARTwheel is basically a device that fits to a steering wheel of a car and requires that the driver keep both hands on the steering wheel while the car is in motion. If the driver removes their hand[s] for ten seconds or longer, an alert is sounded. The alert is intended to annoy the driver and will require that he return his hands to the steering wheel before it turns itself off. SMARTwheel sounds simple and like an effective way to remind us that we need to keep our hands on the steering wheel, thus controlling our vehicles in the safest manner. The SMARTwheel website has additional information about this device and how it works.
While no device may be 100% effective, the SMARTwheel seems like a product that could help stop distracted drivers. What do you think?
Comments welcome.
CC licensed Flickr photo above shared by Zane and Seth
I would not support this for the pure reason of emergency calls, i do not think we are taking on this problem correctly, it isn’t laws that need to be in place, it is responsibility. You can not tell me turning the radio station isn’t a distraction so are you going to ban that as well. People need to take responsibility for being citizens, know your limitations.
No support here. Being a passenger, I’d be pretty angry that I was being restricted in that manner.
I think the car makers instead of investing in technologies that jam mobile devices should invest in technologies that make calling and texting more easy. e.g. APPLE’s SIRI
agreeing with @bryanminer:disqus how do people respond to emergency calls and changing radio stations has the same effect as texting. We all know the effectiveness of SIRI, and i personally think its the way forward.
I would not support this either. I drive a standard. I can operate the shifter with only one hand on the wheel and routinely drive with one hand resting on it. This does not make me an unsafe driver. The better answer is citations for using the device while in motion but even then I have a smart phone and use Google’s navigation software all the time. If my car were to JAM my device it would interrupt my navigation software which is constantly updating the map based on where I am. I would never buy a car that prevented me from using my tools of the trade. In this case the innovation needs to happen with the drivers not the cars.
I don’t think its right to restrict a passenger’s access on a handheld device. Those 8 hours trips will get really boring for people in the backseat…
I drive often with one hand when the other hand or arm is tired thus smart wheel I would disable.
People make good livings selling fixes for things like the proposed jammers. I suspect the Smartwheel would also be by-passed quickly. It is a rock and hard place, but progress is possible. Think of the percent compliance with seat belt laws. Side note: there is an optimum distraction level somewhere above zero. With zero distraction, drivers get bored or fall asleep. The optimum is obviously less than texting, but more than total isolation.
I believe that tests have proven that it only takes a fraction of a second of distraction to get into an accident. Ten seconds of distraction because your fiddling with something while you had is off the wheel could be catastrophic. Also what happens if you don’t get your hand back on the wheel in time and the car slows down, shuts off or stops and your in the middle of the floating bridge?
Bad Idea!
I love the SMART wheel concept! I think investors will GRAB on to this idea!
I support proper training of new drivers. Think back to when you first learned to drive. EVERYTHING was a distraction for you. You struggled to remember which pedal to push, what lever to pull, etc. Now it’s all second nature.
The problem with texting and phone calls is that they demand active attention, unlike the mechanics of driving (which became automatic, so could be done simultaneously). The problem with driver’s ed is they don’t (unless they’ve wised up since I last took a class) teach how to manage attention. Too many people give priority to the phone and the person on the other end and not enough to the driving and their surroundings.
If they could have it pounded into them to have driving be the priority task, they can use the phone while driving and still be perfectly safe. They’ll switch to attending to driving over attending to the phone when total attention on one task is needed and not the other way around.
In a Cognitive Psychology class I took, the instructor told us about an experiment done that proved people could learn to multitask. They were learning how to sit in a lecture and listen, take notes and read a completely different book; perhaps a different class’s textbook or a fiction book. For the first couple weeks, they couldn’t do any of the tasks competently.
Then, overnight, they were able to do all the tasks simultaneously (seemingly) and do well at each.
That’s no more difficult than learning how to effectively task-switch while driving. Though a lot safer to learn how to do, I admit.
Surely there’s a way to teach that skill to drivers in a safe way.
Modern people have few children and between that,
pervasive upper middle class attitudes, and a sort of selfishness, a mania for
safety and for government enforcement of regulations that allegedly provide
more safety has taken hold. I oppose every single one of the things just
referenced, vehemently. So there is just no way am I going to agree with a
Yuppie, on anything at all in most cases. I’d prefer a Nazi or a Communist; at
least I understand where they are coming from and where they want to go, which
I can’t say for the Yuppie sub-culture.
Just say NO to Smart Wheel. Just say NO to mobile
device bans. Say yes to Bluetooth ear-mouth-piece accessories, which make some
of the negative effects of mobile device use by drivers vanish. Just say Yes to
voice-activated devices with voice control for the device and for its software,
and for typed translation of the spoken numeral or the spoken work.
Just say Yes to heads-up types of displays. Use
technology (ALL of which referenced does exist, works reasonably well, and is
NOT that expensive), do not demonize technology. Allow people who want to
experiment do so EWITH OUT WEORRY FOR ACTUALMOR POTENTIAL HARM TO OTHERS. If
harm occurs in a few unintentional cases, sue their liability insurance,
motorists are supposed to have that already.
BTW a GOOD example of Government meddling would be to
tax gasoline at the pump and buy with each gallon liability insurance for the
automobile and its driver as they consume that gallon. Whether the Government
ran the pool or hired a bunch of private insurance companies is a separate
issue; I would favor hiring the companies. This way it would not be possible
for a gasoline-driven vehicle to be driven without liability insurance being in
place. Not just legally mandatory (a useless gesture, like TSA), but actually
in place.
If the harm consists of gross negligence, seize the
vehicle and if it’s an injury or substantial loss of value, imprison the
offender, and not for rehabilitation purposes, as punishment and as separation
from society. Give the three time offenders Life Without.
If the harm comes from the very nature of the device,
tax its sale, tax its use and its users, bid for research into how to fix that
problem, and license the results to the manufacturers. Require incorporation of
the results within a reasonable period of time. After that charge the
manufacturers if they keep making the non-compliant versions for ALL damages
caused by any versions of the device in question, and prosecute them for
criminal negligence. Allow the seizure of all of the firm’s assets and imprisonment
of its officers directors top management and employees help responsible for
this violation should it occur as perpetrators of criminal negligence. Apply
the three strikes rule to these persons as well.
See one can readily imagine a regieme for eliminating
unnecessarikly hazardous items from the roadways WITHOUT REGULATING THE
TECHNOLOGY ITSELF. So I ask, why not?
Just blame someone else, that will fix it. We will see how you like it when someone hits you and you end up a paraplegic for life, all the money in the world will not fix that, and imprisonment doesn’t work, I think that an eye for an eye policy is still right on.
Make the punishment match the crime.
Come on, at least THINK through the damned proposal.
What about people with medical issues that prevent them from using two hands? Amputees, or those with arthritis or other issues? Nobody thought about that?
What about smokers? Oh, wait, they don’t count. (I don’t smoke, and think you are an idiot if you do, but, if you want to – have at it.)
What about the cops and the PCs in their cars? DO they ever wreck because of reading those screens? What do yo think??
Accident rates are declining and have been since the 1950s. The problem is that we are going after a never ending reduction, and are now stressing to identify issues. At the expense of individuals rights. Lets look at a number of things that Lockgnome would find absurd, but would save lives.
1. Eliminate alcohol. There are at least 50,000 deaths in the US per year from alcohol. Why not eliminate that and save 50,000, and all the drunk driving deaths as well? Oh, wait, that infringes on people’s rights.
2. Limit time on the internet. Yes, make kids and adults get off our lazy butts and get some exercise. It would promote health and productivity, and probably a few marriages. But, again, an infringement on people’s rights.
I don’t support either of these, but they illustrate how good ideas go bad, just like trying to use technology to stop people from NOT PAYING ATTENTION while driving. Just write the tickets for what almost every state can do now, but won’t. Enforce the existing laws. You find a teenager texting while driving, that qualifies as distracted – ticket them and have the judge do what they are paid to do, and make sure they don’t do it again.
Oh, and the SMART wheel is a rehash of a product tried in 1975 – seatbelt interlock. Then the car wouldn’t start (Yes, START!!) unless the drivers seat belt was fastened. It me, as a 12 year old, all of 30 minutes to fix the damned thing, and the government 6 months to get rid of that requirement.
Who comes up with these ideas? This is just stupid. I’m currently on a 16 hour road trip from Minneapolis MN to Dallas Texas. Me, my mom, and my dad are switching off driving every hour or 2. I don’t even know what I would do without internet.
On a similar topic, our car’s built in GPS system doesn’t even allow us to input a destination while the car is moving. This is very dangerous. Often the person in the front passenger seat will try to input an address, and the driver will make an unsafe stop in the middle of the road for the device to work.
Whoever is making all these restricting laws should just stop. In my opinion, we should be putting the time and effort into inventing self driving cars. With self driving cars, we wouldn’t need all of these restrictions. Someone could be drunk, and texting at the same time and the car would still drive fine. I’m sure some people will disagree, but some laws are just going too far.
It might be a good idea, but hardly ever have both hands and won’t be. I’ve been driving for 50 years commercially without an accident. The car is not the problem, it’s the nut behind the wheel. We need stiffer penalties, like pull their license for a week or month or year. Fines are not working, when going through a 30 speed zone at over 50 only costs $800. Impound the car and pull the license for a month, bet they won’t do that again.
It’s not about what the people like. Who cares. It’s about what works for a secure, diverse, prosperous, free society.
I support the total ban on operating handheld devices when operation a motor vehicle, no arguments there!
However, I cannot support some of the other measures. Jamming is terribly draconian as it also affects the passengers, and affects functionality like being able to use a mobile phone as a sat nav system with internet access for most up to date maps and traffic info. Bad bad bad idea!
I think the response so far overwhelmingly tells you what we think. Stop trying to legislate every aspect of our lives.
No! No! No! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! The answer is not legislating technology! The answer is not eroding freedoms! The answer is NOT having the government tell people how to live!
I worked a remote job for nearly 5 years and had a 4 hour commute every Monday morning and every Friday afternoon. If I had not been able to put on a headset and talk to a few people I most assuredly would have drifted off to sleep at some point on those long trips.
So you might as well and go ahead and legislate technology that prevents a car from being operated by anyone sleepy, or hungry, or too sad, or too happy…
Heck, if talking on a phone is distracting, isn’t the real problem “talking”? You should require audio isolation of each passenger.
Seriously, all of these attempts to prevent something are futile. Any parent knows that from dealing with kids. Why not reward the ones who voluntarily cooperate? You would probably find reward works much better than threat of punishment.
Oh boy, now there’s a can of worms for ya! The “Jamming” thing more or less filters back to a previous article on cellphone jamming. I made 3 separate comments on that blog and have to question HOW the jamming device would work with this proposal. If it’s an RF jammer I can only repeat (sorry) what I previously said: IT IS ILLEGAL TO PURCHASE, OWN OR USE A CELLPHONE JAMMING DEVICE IN THE U.S.A. Apparently the legislators aren’t aware of their own laws and/or regulations set forth by other government agencies?
In any case, this is insane. The government is trying to control what I eat, how I speak and think, etc. etc. I agree with those that advocate teaching responsibility over making more laws to control our behavior. A huge comment that I hadn’t thought of was those with physical disabilities. One addition for that list: what does a person with one arm (amputee) do to circumvent this proposal? As long as we continue to vote these bean counters into office it will never end.
Not to get too technical on this issue: unless this proposed system used a camera to visually monitor your driving and feed the data into an onboard device (don’t think the technology is here yet for that!), I would guess that sensors would be implanted in the steering wheel. If that’s the case, it could easily be bypassed by anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of electronics. OR, just think of the cottage industry that would almost surely be created to provide a “two hands on the wheel” bypass system. Ha ha. Okay, that’s enough … I’m outta here! Peace
It is bad enough using phones, eating and reading books. Block cell in moving vehicles so people pay attention and DRIVE!
i think its a horrible idea even though i dont suport texting while driving what if someones mom is dying
and they cant recieve the call from the doctor what if theres an accident they cant call 911
A nice idea but the issue isn’t the technology, its the humans. teach them to drive and they won’t want to text whilst driving.
In the UK and Australia they showed some very graphic advertisements regarding what happens when you text and drive or drink and drive. Those campaigns connected to the Police enforcing the law properly would result in the saving of lives.