While we’ve heard of people doing things they shouldn’t be doing while they’re driving — like playing the guitar and taking selfies, not to mention texting — it’s still shocking to look at the numbers tied to distracted driving. A new survey says the trendy thing to do behind the wheel now is using social media like Twitter, with plenty of people admitting they do it “all the time.” [More]
distracted driving
Distracted Drivers Admit To Playing Guitar, Taking Selfies Behind The Wheel
By 3.30.15
Texting while driving isn’t the only distracting activity drivers are partaking in behind the wheel while they should be paying attention to the road, according to a new survey. There are people primping, changing clothes, going to the bathroom, taking selfies and even strumming away on the guitar while driving, making the roads more dangerous for the rest of us. [More]
Studies: Talking To Your Car While Driving Could Be A Dangerous Distraction
By 10.7.14
We know that looking at or futzing around on your phone while driving can cause distracted motorists to get into dangerous situations on the road, but what if you’re hands-free and simply talking to your car or your voice-activated smartphone while it talks back? That helpfulness may in fact be dangerous, say recent studies. [More]
Woman Pulled Over For Drunk Driving Admits She Was Trying To Find Pizza Online
By 9.30.14
We as a society are trying so hard to fight distracted driving by warning about the dangers of using your phone while you’re behind the wheel — but it seems we have to expand the message from “Don’t text/use social media/email” while driving to also include, “Don’t try to order pizza online while you maneuver a huge hunk of metal through the world.” And don’t drink and drive on top of that (or at all). [More]
General Motors Reportedly Launching Cars That Detect Distracted Driving
By 9.2.14
For years, laws have been put into place to discourage distracted driving: no texting while driving, no talking on the phone while driving, the list goes on. General Motors is taking things a step further by commissioning a vehicle that detects and alerts drivers to their distracted behavior. [More]
Parents Calling To Make Sure Their Kids Aren’t Driving While Distracted Are Distracting Their Teenage Drivers
By 8.8.14
Teens and driving are already a combination that makes many an adult quake in fear. Throw cell phones into the mix, and parents (and the rest of us who have to share the road) get downright desperate. Distracted driving is definitely dangerous. But the next time junior borrows the keys to the family station wagon, mom and dad may want to remember that calling him to remind him not to text his friends doesn’t actually cut down on distractions — it just means they are the distraction. [More]
Using Your Phone As A GPS Is Awesome Until You Get A Distracted Driving Ticket
By 8.7.14
Smartphone GPS apps are extremely useful tools for people who want real-time traffic information and/or you don’t want to drag around a separate GPS unit. Yet motorists should be careful: even if they’re just choosing a different route or reporting a construction zone, they can get in serious trouble for simply holding a phone in their hands. [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]
Driver Ticketed For Wearing Google Glass Goes On Trial Today
By 1.16.14
UPDATE: The San Diego traffic court commissioner in this case has thrown out the citation against the driver, saying the police officer had no proof that the driver’s Google Glass device was turned on while she was driving. [More]
Woman Ticketed For Driving With Google Glass Pleads Not Guilty
By 12.4.13
Back in October, a California woman was given a ticket for driving while sporting a Google Glass device. Yesterday, she appeared in court to enter a plea of not guilty on the charge of distracted driving. [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]
N.J. Bill Would Allow Police To Search Drivers’ Cell Phones After Car Crashes
By 6.10.13
It isn’t just drunk drivers police in New Jersey are worried about — one state senator is introducing a bill that would allow authorities to search through drivers’ phones after an accident, likening the act of texting on them while driving to having an open bottle of booze in the car. [More]
The Origo Won’t Let Smartphone Addicts Start Car Unless Phone Is Inaccessible
By 4.19.13
Drivers distracted by their phones or other gadgets in the car are a serious safety problem and really annoying to get stuck behind when the light turns green. What if there were an overly restrictive answer to that problem? Meet the Origo: a system that won’t let you start your car unless your phone is in a specific dock. [More]
Court Would Rather Drivers Get Lost Than Use Phone Maps While Driving
By 4.9.13
There’s a lot to be said about laws that protect drivers from distraction, including those in California that ban driving while texting or otherwise noodling around on your phone. But what if you’re just trying to get where you’re going, and your car isn’t moving? That’s not okay, say courts involved in the case of a motorist who was pulled over for checking the map on his iPhone 4. [More]
Just A Friendly Reminder That You Shouldn’t Be Surfing The Web While Driving
By 11.20.12
If there’s one thing you should be paying attention to while driving, it’s not what that hilarious comedian on Twitter just tweeted or the interminable display of baby pictures flowing down your Facebook newsfeed. Nope. It’s that thing you’re guiding your massive hunk of metal along — the road. A new survey from State Farm says there are a lot of drivers out there distracted by the Internets who should be minding where they’re going instead. [More]
Ford Developing Technology That Reacts To Calm Stressed Or Distracted Drivers
By 6.28.12
While it’s not the same as having a soothing chat with KITT the talking Trans-Am, the folks at Ford are working on technology that would not only recognize when drivers are distracted or in stressful situations but would also act to cut down on external factors in order to calm things down. [More]
California Woman Takes Distracted Driving To Entirely New Level
By 4.5.12
It’s already against the law in California to hold your cellphone up to your ear while you drive. Then throw two young children in the back seat, one with no seatbelt on and the other improperly secured in a child’s seat. And just for good measure, take an infant and place it on the lap of the driver — who, by the way, has a suspended license — and you have the 2012 poster for every anti-distracted driving campaign. [More]
Man Without Cellphone Ticketed For Talking On Cellphone While Driving
By 3.7.12
We don’t have a problem with police officers enforcing laws that prohibit people from driving and talking on their cellphones at the same time. Where we draw the line is at the application of this law to a man who didn’t even have a cellphone in the car with him. [More]
