News & opinion Is Car Technology Leading to More Distracted Driving?

Is Car Technology Leading to More Distracted Driving?

Houston Smart Car Accident Lawyers

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

n

mong m

ny d

ive

s, c

ccident victims,

nd <

h

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se

vices

c

ccident-

tto

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el=”noopene

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efe

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">c

ccident l

ye

s<>

like.

ecently, the N

tion

l Tnspo

t

tion S

fety Bo

d (NTSB)

ele

sed

epo

t

bout

<

h

ef="https:

/fo

tune.com

2020/02/25/tesl

-csh-

utopilot-d

ive

-dist

ction/” t

get=”_bl

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el=”nofollo

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efee

“> f

t

l

ccident<> in

hich

Tesl

SUV stee

ed itself into

conc

ete highy b

ie

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

t

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

i

m

n

obe

t Sum

lt.

The

ccident occued

hen the d

ive

n

pple employee —

llo

ed his Tesl

SUV to stee

itself. The d

ivessist function vee

ed off cou

se

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

el

ying its findings, the NTSB c

iticized

pple fo

not h

ving

comp

ny policy in pl

ce

egding the use of cellul devices

hile d

iving. The

gency

lso encouged Tesl

to continue

o

king on its

utopilot fe

tu

e,

p

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<

h

ef=”https://

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xios.com/ntsb-

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el="nofollo

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x in its ove

sight<> of ne

d

ive

ssist technologies. S

fety issues must be p

o

ctively

dd

essed no

.

e c

nnot it fo

mo

e tgedies to occu

.

h

t Is Dist

cted D

iving?<

h2>
<

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.gov/

isky-d

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cted-d

iving" tget="_bl

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el="nofollo

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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:

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yvictims.com

dist

cted-d

iving-negligence-

nd-the-inju

ies-th

t-

esult

” t

get=”_bl

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el=”noopene

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efe

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">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

nd

utom

ke

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

d

ive

s by offe

ing

pps

nd

uto fe

tu

es th

t opete by voice

ctiv

tion. This me

ns the d

ive

does not need to p

ess buttons on thei

d

sh o

on thei

phones

hile d

iving. Ho

eve

, these solutions do not

l

ys

o

k

s intended,

hich c

n just m

ke dist

ctions

o

se!

He

e e some<

h

ef="https:

/

.nytimes.com

2019/05/02/business/dist

cted-d

iving-technology.html" tget="_bl

nk”

el="nofollo

noopene

no

efe

e

"> technologic

l

dv

ncements th

t c

n inc

e

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

y

n

eime

f

om M.I.T. obse

ved in

<

h

ef="https:

/

.youtube.com

tch?v=PnFezqp_2e4″ t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”nofollo

noopene

no

efee

“>

idely vie

ed TEDx T

lk<>, “

ith inc

e

sed

utom

tion comes inc

e

sed

esponsibility.”

hile m

ny people look fod to the d

y

hen <

h

ef="https:

/c

inju

yvictims.comill-self-d

iving-t

ucks-become-

e

lity

” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

no

efe

e

">

utonomous vehicles > f

ee up time fo

us to get

o

k done du

ing

commute in ou

o

n cs,

e h

ve not YET

ived

t th

t point.

ith eve

y ne

technologic

l

dv

ncement,

e get

little close

. But until

e c

oss the th

eshold to t

ue

utom

tion, d

ive

s still need to st

y fully eng

ged in the m

nu

l, visu

l,

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

t

sk th

t dem

nds you

full

ttention. Dist

ctions come

ith dis

st

ous consequences.

ddition

lly, enginee

s h

ve

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

he

d spin! He

e

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

t

uly <

h

ef=”https://c

inju

yvictims.com

self-d

iving-cs-

o

d-tod

y/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”noopene

no

efe

e

">self-d

iving vehicle >, m

ny comp

nies—both

ell-kno

n

nd obscu

e—h

ve joined the competition.

<

h

ef=”https://

.cbinsights.comesechutonomous-d

ive

less-vehicles-co

po

tions-list/” t

get=”_bl

nk"

el=”nofollo

noopene

no

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.

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Handling Catastrophic Injury Claims for 20+ Years
Car Accident Attorneys Houston 19 Jan

  T ust us hen e sy the e isn’t nything “e sy” bout filing c insunce clim ith...

Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer 15 Jan

. to schedule f ee consulttion. Don’t del y! Youights e too impot nt. Signs of n Intoxic ted...

How to Claim for Whiplash After a Car Accident 10 Jan

He e’s scen io e see ll too often in ou line of o k: pe son lks y...

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