Is Car Technology Leading to More Distracted Driving?

Is the bevy of technology found in ne

cs doing mo

e h

m th

n good? Is it c

using dist

ctions th

t le

d to de

dly

ccidents? This issue h

s c

used conce

mong m

ny d

ive

s, c

ccident victims,

nd <

ef="https:

inju

yvictims.com

vices

–

ccident-

tto

ney-houston

” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

efe

">c

ccident l

s<>

like.

ecently, the N

tion

l Tnspo

tion S

fety Bo

d (NTSB)

ele

sed

epo

bout

ef="https:

/fo

tune.com

2020/02/25/tesl

-csh-

utopilot-d

ive

-dist

ction/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”nofollo

noopene

efee

“> f

ccident<> in

hich

Tesl

SUV stee

ed itself into

conc

ete highy b

t 70 miles pe

hou

, killing the d

ive

. The NTSB bl

med the sho

tcomings of Tesl

’s

utopilot d

ivessist

nce

pplic

tion —

nd the d

ive

’s o

n dist

ction —

s f

cto

s in the f

l csh. “It’s time to stop en

bling d

ive

s in

ny pti

lly-

utom

ted vehicle to p

etend th

t they h

ve d

ive

less cs, bec

use they don’t,” s

id NTSB Ch

obe

t Sum

lt.

The

ccident occued

hen the d

ive

—

pple employee —

llo

ed his Tesl

SUV to stee

itself. The d

ivessist function vee

ed off cou

nd the vehicle collided

ith the conc

ete b

iet high speed. NTSB investig

tions discove

ed the Tesl

’s d

ive

s pl

ying

video g

me on his mobile device

t the time of the

ccident. In

ying its findings, the NTSB c

iticized

pple fo

not h

ving

comp

ny policy in pl

egding the use of cellul devices

hile d

iving. The

gency

lso encouged Tesl

to continue

king on its

utopilot fe

omising yet fled technology. Fin

lly, the NTSB c

iticized

fello

fedel

gency, the N

tion

l High

y T

ffic S

fety

dminist

tion (NHTS

), fo

being<

ef=”https://

xios.com/ntsb-

ns-

bout-l

x-ove

sight-of-ne

-c-tech-

f5e5916-0483-4c9c-bf1d-

83f82f8f7d8.html" tget="_bl

nk”

el="nofollo

noopene

efe

"> l

x in its ove

sight<> of ne

ive

–

ssist technologies. S

fety issues must be p

ctively

essed no

e c

nnot it fo

e tgedies to occu

h
t Is Dist

cted D
iving?<
h2>
<
h
ef=”https://
.nhts
.gov/
isky-d
iving/dist

cted-d
iving" tget="_bl
nk”
el="nofollo
noopene
no
efe

e
">p-im
ge-44933
lign
ight" s
c=”https://c

inju
yvictims.comp-content
uplo
ds
2020/04/Is-C

-Technology-Le
ding-to-Mo
e-Dist

cted-D
iving-300x200.jpg"
lt=”D
ive
less C

C

sh
tto
neys”
idth="392" height="261"
>
s expl
ined by the NHTS
<>, distcted d
iving is
ny
ctivity th
t dive
ts
d
ive
’s
ttention f
om the t
sk of d
iving. Mo
e th
n 2,500 people die e
ch ye

bec
use of <
h
ef="https:
/c

inju
yvictims.com
dist

cted-d
iving-negligence-
nd-the-inju
ies-th
t-
esult
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
no
efe

e
">distcted d
iving >, m
king it
m
jo
conce
n on
o
d

ys
c
oss the n
tion. D
ive
distctions h
ve th
ee distinct c
tego
ies:

ong>M
nu
l dist

ctions: ong> M
nu
l distctions e distctions th
t c
use
d
ive
to t
ke thei
h
nds off the
heel. Ex
mples of m
nu
l d
iving dist

ctions include e
ting, d
inking,
pplying m
keup,
djusting you
vehicle cont
ols, ste
eo, o
GPS. <
h
ef="https:
/c

inju
yvictims.com
dist

cted-d
iving-
ccidents-f
cts
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
no
efe

e
">Texting<> is
lso
m
nu
l distction.<
li>

ong>Visu
l dist

ctions: ong> Visu
l dist

ctions c
use
d
ive to t
ke thei
eyes off the
o
d. Ex
mples of visu
l distctions include looking fo
something you d
opped on the floo
, looking
t you
child
en fighting in the b
ck se
t,
ubbe
-necking
hile d
iving p
st
n
ccident, o
texting.<
li>

ong>Cognitive distctions:<
st
ong> Cognitive distctions e those in
hich you
mind is not on the t
sk of d
iving. Su
e,
e
ll “zone out” o
d
yd
e
m, but <
h
ef=”https://c

inju
yvictims.com
types-c

shes-c
used-distcted-d
ive
s
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
no
efe

e
">doing so on the
o
d c
n be de
dly<>. You c
n
lso be cognitively distcted by guing
ith someone on the phone o
in the c
ith you, thinking up

itty text
eply, o numbe
of othe
possibilities.<
li>

Cle

ly, texting is the
o
st offende
he
e, comp
ising
ll th
ee distctions
t once. In f
ct, the NHTS
notes th
t, in the
pp
oxim
tely 5 seconds it t
kes fo
you to send o

eceive
text
hile d
iving do
n

o
d
t 55 miles pe
hou
, you
ould d
ive the dist
nce of
footb
ll field
hile not

tching the
o
d, not pl
cing you
h
nds p
ope
ly on the stee
ing
heel,
nd not p
ying full
ttention to the t
sk of d
iving.

D
nge
ous Dist

ctions in Ne
e
C

s

Tech comp

nies

utom

s e

ell

e of the dist

ction th

t technology poses behind the

heel. In f

ct, they’ve

ttempted to elimin

te some of these distctions fo

ive

s by offe

ing

pps

uto fe

es th

t opete by voice

ctiv

tion. This me

ns the d

ive

does not need to p

ess buttons on thei

sh o

on thei

phones

hile d

iving. Ho

eve

, these solutions do not

s intended,

hich c

n just m

ke dist

ctions

se!

e e some<

ef="https:

.nytimes.com

2019/05/02/business/dist

cted-d

iving-technology.html" tget="_bl

nk”

el="nofollo

noopene

efe

"> technologic

ncements th

t c

n inc

se the dist

ctions > th

t d

ive

s h

ve to contend

ith.

utopilot functions, like the one th
t pl
yed ole in the Teslccident, e designed to
ssist the d
ive
by stee
ing
nd stopping in ce
t
in situ
tions. Ho
eve
, the
utopilot technology h
s not
dv
nced enough to t
ke ove
d
iving enti
ely. In Tempe, izon
,
<
h
ef="https:
/
.
i
ed.com
sto
y
ube
s-self-d
iving-c

-didnt-kno
-pedest
i
ns-could-j
y

lk/” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”nofollo
noopene
no
efee
“>
om
n

s killed by
“self-d
iving” Ube
SUV<> th
t f
iled to detect pedest
i
ns c
ossing the st
eet outside of
c
osslk. NTSB found pti
l f
ult
ith Ube
fo
not h
ving the p
ope
s
fety division o
m
n
gement to opete
self-d
iving c p
og

m, but the m
in f
ult in the
ccident s
ith the soft
e th
t f
iled to detect the people in the
o
dy. The c’s soft
e detected the
om
n in the
o
d mo
e th
n 5 seconds befo
e imp
ct but f
iled to t
ke
ny
void
nt
ction, st
iking het 40 miles pe
hou
.<
li>
H
nds-f
ee cell phone use. Spe
ke
phone m
kes it possible fo
d
ive
s to keep thei
h
nds on the stee
ing
heel
hile t
lking on the phone. In f
ct, m
ny st
tes h
ve p
ssed ls th
t
equi
e d
ive
s to only<
h
ef=”https://
.boston.com
c

s/loc
l-ne
s/2020/02/18/h
nds-f
ee-d
iving-l-m
ss
chusetts" tget="_bl
nk”
el="nofollo
noopene
no
efe

e
"> opete thei
phones in h
nds-f
ee mode >
hile d
iving. In M
ss
chusetts, fo
ex
mple,
dult d
ive
s

e no longe

llo
ed to h
ve thei
h
nd on thei
phone
hile d
iving. They m
y only use thei
h
nds on thei
phone to do
single s
ipe o
p
ess
single button. Texts
nd outgoing c
lls must be pe
fo
med by voice
ctiv
tion. The p
oblem
ith this, ho
eve
, is th
t even opeting
phone in voice mode constitutes
distction f
om the t
sk of d
iving
c. D
ive
s lose focus on
hethe
the vehicle in f
ont of them is
bout to tu
n, o

hethe

t

ffic light h
s ch
nged f
om g
een to
ed. “H
nds-f
ee” c
n still t

nsl
te to “cognitively-distcted.” In f
ct, studies indic
te th
t
d
ive
eng
ged in conve
s
tion sc
ns the
o
d diffe
ently,
nd does not look in
e

o
side vie
mi

o
s
s often
s they no
m
lly
ould
hen comped to
non-conve
sing d
ive
.<
li>
Infot
inment systems. These e the lge sc
eens loc
ted in the d
sh-

e
of ne
e
cs th
t p
ovide hole bundle of technology, including phone c
ll technology, GPS, tempe

tu
e g
uges fo
you
he
ted se
ts, music lib
ies,
nd even the
bility to tch movies
hile in the c

. The p
oblem
ith these displ
ys,
s expl
ined in
n op-ed published by Popul

Mech
nics, is<
h
ef="https:
/
.populmech
nics.com/c

s/c

-technology/
26016348
c

-infot
inment-distction
” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”nofollo
noopene
no
efee
“> the
bsence of knobs<> th
t one c
n use to
djust things in the c
ithout looking. Inste
d, ne
, sc
een-b
sed systems
equi
e d
ive
s to t
ke thei
eyes off the
o
d
nd
h
nd off the
heel.
hile m
ny of these systems come
ith h
nds-f
ee voice
ctiv
tion,

ecent study indic
ted th
t,
hen
sked to complete diffe
ent t
sks on infot
inment systems
ith voice
ctiv
tion, p

ticip
nts found the t
sks to be mode

tely- to highly-dist

cting in
cognitive sense.<
li>

Technology to S
ve Us f
om Technology!

s D

. B

eime

om M.I.T. obse

ved in

ef="https:

.youtube.com

tch?v=PnFezqp_2e4″ t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”nofollo

noopene

efee

“>

idely vie

ed TEDx T

lk<>, “

ith inc

sed

utom

tion comes inc

sed

esponsibility.”

hile m

ny people look fod to the d

hen <

ef="https:

inju

yvictims.comill-self-d

iving-t

ucks-become-

lity

” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

efe

utonomous vehicles > f

ee up time fo

us to get

k done du

ing

commute in ou

n cs,

e h

ve not YET

ived

t th

t point.

ith eve

y ne

technologic

ncement,

e get

little close

. But until

e c

oss the th

eshold to t

utom

tion, d

ive

s still need to st

y fully eng

ged in the m

l, visu

nd cognitive t

sks of d

iving to keep themselves

nd othe

s s

fe.

The

e’s no y ound it: d

iving is

sk th

t dem

nds you

full

ttention. Dist

ctions come

ith dis

ous consequences.

ddition

lly, enginee

s h

ecently focused effo

ts on developing technology to s

ve us f

om distctions c

used by technology. It’s enough to m

ke you

d spin! He

e some of the solutions they’ve come up

ith:

Cell phone blocking technology. It
ould be nice if
ll of us h
d the discipline to shut off ou
phones o
put them in
i
pl
ne mode
hile
e d
ive. Ho
eve
, since th
t’s just not h
ppening, comp
nies h
ve come up
ith
pps th
t<
h
ef="https:
/
.nsc.o
g/
o
d-s
fety
s
fety-topics
dist

cted-d
iving
technology-solutions” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”nofollo
noopene
no
efee
“> block d
ive
s f
om sending oeceiving c
lls
nd texts<>
hile
c is in motion. Most often used by employe
s o
pents of teen d
ive
s, these
pps h
ve fe
tu
es th
t c
n tck speed, detect sudden stops, block use of
c

ste
eo,
nd even send text o
em
il
le
ts to let p

ents
nd bosses knohen something is
miss. Fo
those
o

ied
bout the in
bility to use one’s phone in
n eme
gency, f
et not: most of these
pps come
ith
911 ove

ide,
nd some m
y
llo sm
ll list of individu
ls
hose c
lls
ill go th
ough
hile the
pp is eng
ged.
S
fety fe
tu
es th
t
llo
the vehicle to t
ke ove
ope

tions b
iefly if the d
ive
is distcted by something else (such
s
touchsc
een infot
inment system). Some of these fe
tu
es include fod-collision
nings,
hich p
ovide
visu
l o

udible
le
t if the vehicle is
bout to csh into something. This fe
tu
e h
s been found to
educe
e

-end c

shes by
bout 27%.
utom
tic eme
gency b

king is
nothe
s
fety fe
tu
e th
t eng
ges the bkes if the vehicle senses th
t
collision is
bout to occu

nd the d
ive
h
s been too slo
to
espond to
h
zd. L
ne dep

tu
e
ning emits
visu
l o

udible
ning
hen
c p
sses ove
cente
lines
nd the d
ive
h
s not eng
ged
tu
n sign
l. Fin
lly, l
ne-keeping
ssist t
kes ove
bking
nd/o
stee
ing if
vehicle begins to d
ift out of
tvel l
ne.

hile

e h

ven’t c

ossed the finish line in the

ce to develop

uly <

ef=”https://c

inju

yvictims.com

self-d

iving-cs-

d-tod

y/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

efe

">self-d

iving vehicle >, m

ny comp

nies—both

ell-kno

nd obscu

e—h

ve joined the competition.

ef=”https://

.cbinsights.comesechutonomous-d

ive

less-vehicles-co

tions-list/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”nofollo

noopene

efee

“>Some of those comp

nies<> include:

<
h
ef="https:
/c

inju
yvictims.comm
zon-self-d
iving-t
ucks/” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
no
efe

e
">
m
zon<> pl
ns to put 100,000 elect
ic delive
y vehicles on the
o
d by 2030,
nd h
s developed
n
utonomous delive
y
obot
s
ell
s p
tented
utonomous l
ne-s
itching technology. The comp
ny h
s
lso invested in
n
utonomous st

tup c
e
ted by Google
nd Tesl
vete

ns.
Cisco h
s been busy developing the d
t
l
ye
needed fo
self-d
iving
nd sm

t c

c
p
bilities.
pple cuently h
s 70 self-d
iving vehicles on the
o
d in C
lifo
ni
. In 2019, the comp
ny cut mo
e th
n 200 employees f
om its self-d
iving c p
og

m in
h
t

s initi
lly desc
ibed
s est
uctu
ing effo
t. The comp
ny then
cqui
ed
self-d
iving sttup
nd built p
ototypes fon elect
ic v
n.<
li>
Fo
d pl
ns to st

t
olling out self-d
iving vehicles soon. These “highly
utonomous” vehicles e intended to be
olled out in geo-fenced

e
s, including
ustin, Tex
s.<
li>
ptiv h
s completed 100,000 self-d
iving t
xi
ides in Boston, L
s Veg
s, Pittsbu
gh,
nd Sing
po
e.<
li>
udi unveiled its
8
nd bec
me the fi
st comp
ny to employ h
nds-f
ee d
iving. The comp
ny pl
ns to spend $16 billion on self-d
iving
nd sust
in
ble technology in the next fe
ye

s.
Mic
osoft is p
oviding
zu
e cloud se
vices to comp
nies
ho e
o
king on self-d
iving c

s.
Toyot
is
o
king on “gudi
n
ngel” technology in
hich the self-d
iving fe
tu
es
ill only t
ke ove
fo
the d
ive

hen he o
she is
bout to m
ke
mist
ke.<
li>

Ne
F
ces of Old-F
shioned Distctions<
h2>
Me
n
hile,
s ne
technologies

e b
ought online, plenty of dec
des-old dist

ctions
ill continue to c
use se
ious inju
ies. If you sust
ined inju
ies in
c
ccident c
used by
dist

cted d
ive
, you m
y h
ve the
ight to
eceive signific
nt compens
tion f
om the pties
t f
ult fo
the c

sh. Cont
ct
n expe
ienced c
ccident inju
y
tto
ney tod
y to le

n more.

D ngeous Dist ctions in Ne e C s

Technology to S ve Us fom Technology!

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D
nge
ous Dist

ctions in Ne
e
C

s

Technology to S
ve Us f
om Technology!