ding to d
tpublished by the N
tionl High
y T
ffic S
fetydminist
tion (NHTS
), distcted diving is
n eve-g
oing p
oblem in the United Sttes. The pe
centge of people inju
ed inccidents involving ive e cent bet nd 2012
nd m
ny obseve
s blme this t
end on the go
ing populitynd
vil
bility of peson
l electonic devices such
s smt phones. To combt this issue, m
ny sttes (Tex
s included) hve en
cteds th
t limit cell phone use by dive
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e>Touchsc
een Tempt
tion<h2>
hile theseegul
tions my be
step in theight di
ection,ne
potentil sou
ce of dive
distction hs been g
ining populity in the fom of in-c
infot
inment systems. “Infotinment”
efes to
mix of infom
tionnd ente
tinment,
nd nee
vehicles e being outfittedith touchsc
een systems tht offe
intenet connectivity
sell
s connectivityith
dive
’s othedevices, such
s smt phonesnd t
blets.hile these systems pe
fom some necess
y functions such
s climte cont
olnd monito
ing ofvehicle’s systems, they
lso hve the potenti
l to povide
ncilly functionlity th
t my signific
ntly distct dive
s. These systems hve the potenti
l toccess thi
d ptypps
nd even bo
se the intenet,
hich even the most cp
ble multi-tske
ould likely
gee to be
n unnecessynd d
ngeous dist
ction to d
ives.
Guidelines (not l
s) fo
utom
kes egul
to
s e cet
inly tking notice of these ne
technologies. In 2012, NHTSissued p
oposed guidelines foutomke
s ineg
d to infot
inment systems.mong the p
oposed guidelinese
e the folloing suggestions:
-
educing device complexity
nd t
sk length<li>
- Limiting ope
tion to one h
nd only<li>
- Limiting the time
dive
isequi
ed to lookt
device to to seconds
- Limiting unnecess
y info
mtion in
dive
’s field of vie - Limiting the m
nul inputs
equied fo
device opetion<li>
In
ddition, NHTSould hve
utomke
s lock dive
s out of functions suchs text mess
ging ointe
net bo
sing unless the vehicle is in pk.Sue the
utom
keo
the Peson
ho Cshed Into You?<h2>
egdless ofhethe
these poposed guidelines
e
dopted, it isne
ce
tinty th
t litigtion
egding cccidents involving infot
inment systems is on the hoizon. The mo
e simple clss of c
sesill likely involve victims of c
ccidentsho
llege tht
nothed
ives dist
cted by his o
heinfot
inment systemnd c
usedn
ccidents
esult.
nothepossibility is d
ives suing c
m
nufctu
es fo
plcing un
eson
bly distcting devices in theivehicles. In eithe
cse, it is impo
tnt th
t victims discuss theici
cumstnces of thei
ccident
ithpe
sonl inju
y lyes soons they c
nfte
n
ccident occus.
tto
ney Ste
t Guss isn expe
ienced peson
l injuy
ttoney
epesenting clients in Houston, Tomb
ll, Sping, Cyp
ess, Theoodl
nds,nd K
ty. Stet is dedic
ted to helping victims of negligenceecove
fothe losses they incu
. To schedulef
ee consulttion
ith Stet, c
ll ouoffice tod
yt 800-898-4877 o
<h
ef="cont
ct-us“>send us
messge
>.<h3>