Jay Winsten is not a household name, but everyone recognizes the term “designated driver,” which the Harvard professor brought to the United States, popularized, and turned into a social norm back in the ’80s. Now Winsten is trying to address the driving danger of our time: Why won’t drivers put their phones down? [More]
texting while driving
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
By 9.9.16
Here are six of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness. [More]
Cops Disappointed That We Just Can’t Put Down Phones While Driving
By 9.2.16
For about as long as mobile phones have existed, traffic authorities have been on a campaign to get drivers to stop using them in our cars. The rise of texting over talking has made the problem even more hazardous, as communication requires at least one hand free and one eye on the screen. Cops are resorting to new tactics to catch and ticket texters, and they still aren’t deterring us. [More]
Survey Says Most People Know Texting While Driving Is Dangerous, Do It Anyway
By 11.5.14
Odds are, you’re not sending your friends and loved ones off to drive somewhere with a hearty, “Don’t forget to text while driving!” But even though mostly everyone knows that texting and driving a car is dangerous, a new survey shows that a whole heck of a lot of us still do it anyway. [More]
Radar From The Future Can Catch Drivers Texting Behind The Wheel
By 9.18.14
Law enforcement officials may soon be getting a high-tech helping hand in their fight against distracted driving. A Virginia company is reportedly working on a radar gun that detects, not speeding, but text messaging. [More]
New Apple Patent Seeks To Prevent Drivers From Texting While Behind The Wheel
By 4.22.14
Apple’s already got a patent in the works for technology to keep distracted pedestrians from hurting themselves while texting and walking, and now the company’s got its eyes on the road. Because you should too, instead of texting and driving. [More]
Billboard Campaign Shames California Commuters For Texting While In Traffic
By 3.26.14
You shouldn’t text while driving, period. But you definitely shouldn’t do so while driving on the 101 Freeway in San Francisco unless you want your picture plastered across the city. [More]
Be Honest: You’re Facebooking While You Drive
By 11.13.13
There’s no formal study backing us up on this, but we’d guess that 100% of drivers (and Internet commenters) condemn people who text or check the Internet while they drive. Like many terrible, terrible habits, though, we humans condemn things that we ourselves do. A lot. According to a new survey by insurance company State farm, 24% of drivers admit to some kind of keyboard-related activity while driving. [More]
New York Hopes Designated Highway Texting Stops Will Make You Put Phone Down
By 9.24.13
How many times have you seen a “Rest stop ahead – 10 miles” sign on a long car trip and felt relieved to know that there was coffee and bathroom facilities within reach? New York State is hoping that you will keep your phone at your side and feel similar relief when you see a sign telling you the distance to the next designated texting spot. Will the new signs change drivers’ habits? [More]
Man Texts While Driving, Crashes Into Tractor Transporting Manure
By 8.22.13
Everyone knows that that you shouldn’t text while driving, but most people do it anyway. Need an incentive not to? Consider the man in Wisconsin who, according to police, was tapping away on his phone when he hit a tractor pulling a trailer filled with unfathomable quantities of liquid manure. Neither driver was seriously injured, but there was a trailer filled with liquid manure. [WFTV] [More]
New York State Wants Drivers To Put Their Smartphones Down Already
By 7.29.13
The authorities are on to you. Yeah, you. The person who thinks that you can totally get away with texting and driving as long as you keep your phone in your lap. In order to catch you, the Empire State spent a million bucks to launch a shiny new fleet of Chevy Tahoes that let state troopers stare at motorists’ crotches. [More]
What's Worse Than Missing A Cool Text? How About Involuntary Manslaughter?
By 11.2.11
Pull over if you’re driving and need to respond to or send a text message. Otherwise, that witty reply can wait. Because death won’t. [More]
3 Cellphone Apps To Block Texting While Driving
By 10.30.09
We’ve been talking about the dangers of texting while driving for a while, and if you’ve been paying attention, you know it’s no joke: texting is 23 times more distracting than talking on a phone. In spite of this, most people do it anyway. If you just can’t help yourself, here are three apps that will limit your ability to text while driving.
Federal Employees Banned From Texting While Driving
By 10.2.09
An executive order issued this week bans federal employees from texting while driving when using government vehicles or phones, or while on government business. Given the safety risks of texting while driving, we think this was a good move, and hope that it extends to the general population. Take our poll and tell us what you think, inside.
