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Feds want to make apps dead, if the phone is moving.

AZgl1500

Extreme Android User
Feb 3, 2011
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http://www.newson6.com/story/337820...martphone-makers-to-shut-off-apps-for-drivers

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Government Wants Smartphone Makers To Shut Off Apps For Drivers


We have discussed this before, and the real problem is.... the phone is moving across the planet at a fast rate, BUT how do you determine that the Driver of the Vehicle, or the Pilot of the Airplane, or the guy in a Balloon is the one who is using that cellphone?

you can't, and I see this being defeated, even though, it obviously would save some lives.
I have had my fair share of near hits from people who are looking down at their crotch, and not out there at the highway.
 
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just last night, I had two near misses....

A Collision, is a near miss.
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Something creative like a near field sensor or other sensor sensor in teh steering wheel that can sense someone in front of it texting and keep the @$$hole holding it from using it. I agree about invasive interception with cell phones in a car, but I'm seriously close to falling off the fence and agreeing with someone enforcing it, despite the fallout from my decision with others on it, because I've been nearly killed by WAY too many idiots facebooking while blowing through red lights. And this has been a daily thing for some time now.

Something needs to be done before my family and I are killed at the hands of irresponsible jackasses who won't go hands-free and just can't put their phone down for everybody's sake including their own. I hope federal intervention doesn't happen, but I'm not going to complain if it does.
 
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I can see the negative fallout, but I too have been run off the road by inattentive drivers.
Twice on my Honda Goldwing motorcycle.... guy in a pickup truck, baseball cap so far down I could not see his face.
he drifted over the double yellow and I headed for the green grass off the interstate.
 
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I think using a mobile while in control of a vehicle is worse than being inebriated but I don't think clever motion sensors are the answer at all. Just like drink driving, I don't think its about police enforcement and more draconian punishments either.

What worked best with alcohol and I think will work here is "social disapproval". Nobody (well nearly nobody) would boast about driving while drunk, it's just not cool. Sadly people are only to ready to tell people about taking mobile phone calls when driving. I society decides it's not cool to text while driving people will stop doing it IMO.
 
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I think using a mobile while in control of a vehicle is worse than being inebriated but I don't think clever motion sensors are the answer at all. Just like drink driving, I don't think its about police enforcement and more draconian punishments either.

What worked best with alcohol and I think will work here is "social disapproval". Nobody (well nearly nobody) would boast about driving while drunk, it's just not cool. Sadly people are only to ready to tell people about taking mobile phone calls when driving. I society decides it's not cool to text while driving people will stop doing it IMO.

No, it's the custom now that you HAVE to answer the phone, tweet, whatever. Ignoring isn't polite, and the idiots that send it keep sending as if they are the most important people in the world. (I got told by some Verizon reps years ago that I have to answer the phone when it rings*)

The other half is me, all about me. Either they are attention whores or so damn insecure that they have to have approbation at all costs.

* This was before there was much mucking around with ringtones. I found BitPim put my own on the phone and could identify caller from there. I try to find a ringtone that matches the caller.
 
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I tell everyone who wants to text me, that I will answer a text message when I can do it safely, or get back to the phone.
To me, that is what SMS is all about. Send a message and if it don't get answered until tomorrow, that is still okay with me.
The message is laying there in the "snail mail inbox" ( joke ) just like the post office, and you will open up that bill when you feel like it... and that is how I do my text messages....

My Blue Parrott headset has an app for it that will translate a text message into voice. When I am driving, I wear the headset.
The app speaks to me when a text comes in: I decide if it needs to be answered, and find a place to stop, or left until later.

If I get a call, a simple touch of a button answers the call... if it is not a medical emergency with my wife, I drop the call until I am stopped somewhere.
 
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What worked best with alcohol and I think will work here is "social disapproval". Nobody (well nearly nobody) would boast about driving while drunk, it's just not cool. Sadly people are only to ready to tell people about taking mobile phone calls when driving. I society decides it's not cool to text while driving people will stop doing it IMO.
Hmm, I remember when people first spoke of texting while driving the universal response was "what sort of idiot does that". Didn't stop such idiocy taking hold.

Remember that the other side of social disapproval of drink driving was penalties and enforcement for those who didn't think it was a problem for them to do it. Enforcement is the big problem here: it's commonplace here for people to delete call logs after accidents (doesn't help them, but shows that they knew damned well that they knew they shouldn't be using the device). But until they are in an accident most know they won't be stopped.

(I'm personally of the opinion that anyone who would text while driving has proven themselves too stupid to be trusted behind the wheel and should lose their license immediately).

The problem with these proposals, as I understand them, is that they'll take many years to have an effect. They talk of technologies to distinguish driver from passenger, which means built into the car, which even if mandated for new cars means many years to become widespread.

Personally I'm old-fashioned: if a message comes in while driving I ignore it until I stop. And if a call comes in I do the same (there's a Bluetooth speaker in the glove box but I rarely connect it unless I have a good reason to expect a call that's relevant to my trip, and not always then - I'm aware that every single study shows the hands free isn't safe either).
 
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I rarely receive calls on my cell, but when I do, it's usually the wife. I do have bluetooth integrated with my stereo, and I do answer the phone on occasion.

If there is traffic, though, I tell my wife I am in traffic, and hang up. Been doing this since the turn of the century (back then it was a hands-free headset). I am no longer driving through a major metropolitan city, so traffic is not nearly as heavy nor as prevalent as, say LA or San Diego.
 
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I rarely answer a call while driving, mostly will only answer if it's the kid and then I tell him I'll call back later. I just ignore any text or alert until I'm wherever I'm going. I do have BT in the car (the little plug in the lighter kind, my car is so old) but I only use it for tunes or maps directions. It's terrible for phone calls but even if it weren't I'd still not answer. When I used to drive from NY to VA for a visit and was not in heavy traffic I would answer and have a brief conversation. These days I just ignore everyone 'til I'm parked.

My sister, on the other hand, spends a lot of time in the car for her job and is always on the phone. She says she doesn't but I know she reads and sends texts all day long. I've seen her do it and have yelled at her, I was in the car and so were her kids. Scary to know she does that. She's the type that is very disorganized and most rules don't apply to her.

I just don't see how they can limit use for the driver only and determine what the 'safe' apps are; calls?, maps? If they can figure out how to do it and it actually makes sense I'd be all for it. Oh and, yeah, something for the drinkers too. Oh and, no eating or anything else while driving either...I'm afraid you just can't fix stupid.
 
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Cellphones are the newest disattraction on the scene of course.
Dropped cigarettes, reaching for the glove box, leaning over to get something that fell into the floor, turning around to admonish a child, fiddling with the radio/entertainment center....

all of that is in the same category as the cellphone...
anything that distracts us is dangerous....

for me, I would constantly get irritated by the wife asking me, "Did you see that house over there?" or something like that....
my answer is always the same, "No dear, I don't have time to gawk at the scenery, I have to keep my eyes on the road".

One of the employers I used to work for required us to attend a "Smith Driver Training System" class each year.
One of the trainers would come to our work location and the whole entire office was shut down for 8 hours.

I got to where I kind of enjoyed that, and after about 10+ years it has become a part of my driving habits...

Getting drowsy? Get the eyescan up, start checking all of the mirrors and back to the road every second... then find a safe place to get off the road and take a nap.
 
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Cellphones are the newest disattraction on the scene of course.
Dropped cigarettes, reaching for the glove box, leaning over to get something that fell into the floor, turning around to admonish a child, fiddling with the radio/entertainment center....

all of that is in the same category as the cellphone...
anything that distracts us is dangerous....

for me, I would constantly get irritated by the wife asking me, "Did you see that house over there?" or something like that....
my answer is always the same, "No dear, I don't have time to gawk at the scenery, I have to keep my eyes on the road".

One of the employers I used to work for required us to attend a "Smith Driver Training System" class each year.
One of the trainers would come to our work location and the whole entire office was shut down for 8 hours.

I got to where I kind of enjoyed that, and after about 10+ years it has become a part of my driving habits...

Getting drowsy? Get the eyescan up, start checking all of the mirrors and back to the road every second... then find a safe place to get off the road and take a nap.

Cell phone indulgence is worse than any of those.

Have kids? Learn how to implement verbal threats that actually scare the shit out of them without raising your voice or turning around to yell (I've mastered it)

I've dropped enough cigarettes to learn that, whether it's on the rug for 1 second or 30 seconds, it's gonna leave a burn mark. Spare us all and pull over when it's safe.

Drink iced coffee instead. It won't burn you if spilled in your lap.

Tell your spouse or passengers to STFU

Change radio station when stopped. Although some newer cars are limiting function when in motion, yay...

It's all common sense, minus the common nowadays it seems.

There is no smart way to use a cell phone while driving, despite lots of people saying they've never caused an accident or came close to one (yeah bullshit) or they can handle it.... Nope. These are the same people that text while driving a car, but use the phone while standing outside of it, I'll never figure that one out. I sucked at texting and driving, so I stopped doing it.

Maybe they should have steering wheels that need to have two hands on before an annoying ding happens. They do it for seatbelts, hmm? After a short time the seatbelt minder in my Honda made me bite it and buckle up because it's very annoying. I actually looked for the dinger and was so ready to rip the entire dashboard out.. (actually bought the FSBs to do this) it's just easier to fasten the belt...

I now buckle up in my old minivan that doesn't care if you buckle up or not... I'm extremely stubborn. It trained me. Now after many incidents where people have nearly killed me and my children (4 of them), I'm an advocate for anyone who wants this crap to stop.
 
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Yes on all of the above.

I can still remember my pilot instructor from back in 1969 telling me to keep my eyes open, keep them in motion, and do NOT stare at anything for longer that about 5 seconds. He also added do not allow yourself to get distracted by unnecessary chit chat from passengers if you have any.... Keep your brains in gear, and your eyes open, and "always have a new Emergency Landing Spot" picked out....

That last sentence stood me in good stead back in 1976. My personally owned airplane suffered a temporary engine outage for about 30 seconds ( carb ice when I flew thru a steam cloud on a 90* summer day ). On this occasion, that steam cloud drifted across my intended landing spot ( a road where I lived ) and blinded me from seeing the end of the road.

Instead of just plowing on down to "where the road should be", I hit full throttle for a go around, the engine powered up about 300 feet off the ground and went dead silent.... by this point, I was out of the steam cloud and knew exactly where I was. At 300 feet altitude you don't start looking for a place to land, "you land it right there in the best place you can"..... and for me, that was a gully off to my left about 15 degrees and sloping "downhill at 20+ degrees"....

I instantly pushed the stick against the firewall nosing it over and slightly turned to the left to line up with that gully and down I went. That venerable old Tri-Pacer just sat down on the main gear wheels and coasted to a stop and the nose gear touched when the elevators lost control.... and then the carb deiced and the engine started idling over pretty as you please.

I got out, looked at things for damage. NONE.... turned it around, got back in, and took off back to my intended landing spot.

Safety First: Cellphones Last.
 
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If the feds are going that far:

Add foot traffic. People playing Pokemon have their eyes on the phone and their heads you-know-where.

I could swear I saw one playing Pokemon at every traffic light yesterday.
Maybe we should make sure that all phones are tethered to anchor points in buildings... Maybe by using some sort of 'phone cord'?
 
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Maybe we should make sure that all phones are tethered to anchor points in buildings... Maybe by using some sort of 'phone cord'?

I got a giggle out of that one. yup, let's advance our cellphones ahead all the way to 1950.... :p
I can just see it now, our current crop of teenagers or younger who have never, not even once, seen a real live telephone with a cord on it and their reaction to their cellphone being pulled out of their hands when they leave the house. :rolleyes:
 
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Some of this crop just might have grandparents with land lines, but phones you can carry all over the house. Some might even have the standard dial phones. Going to Grandma's will give them some understanding.

It's the upcoming crop whose whole family has been digital for a couple of generations that would worry me.

Landlines are still common where there is no cell signal, or the company offering service is too expensive. Rural places in particular have this problem.
 
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The house I live in, has two phone jacks in a couple of the rooms.

but, it is very old and in rural Americana where the wind blows grass on the plains.

When we bought it in 2011, I never ordered a landline. I had quit paying for a landline back about 2005 or so. The only reason I had kept it that long was I had to have a fax machine 'online' all the time.

then online fax services became available by email, and that ended that requirement.
 
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I have a land line. Same number for almost fifty years even. It's a business phone/deductible so it remains in service. I never call out on the thing and rarely receive a call that isn't spam. They are pretty much irrelevant today. I wouldn't have the thing if it wasn't a business line.

The house I grew up in had a niche in the hall wall designed to hold the phone and a phone book.
I wonder what the current owners use that nifty innovation for these days.:D It was handy back in the day however. Nothing like standing in the hall to talk to someone on the phone.:thinking:

As a child, my grandparents phone number was C311. Their address was 311 C :rolleyes: Their phone was made of metal and weighed two ton. We had a modern phone at home. It only weighed one ton.:eek:
You could drive nails with the receiver and cause no damage.

I was an adult before you were allowed to buy a phone to use on Bell's service. Prior to that, part of your phone bill was rental for the phone.:mad: There was no such thing as a phone jack. They were wired in.

Our phone was on a party line... meaning you shared the line with one or more customers. If they were on the line when you picked up the phone, you could listen in on the conversation and they could listen to yours. Nothing like having someone tell you to just tell your girlfriend that you love her and get off the damn phone! Party lines were such fun.... not! And when the phone rang it would ring a long ring and one short or two short rings depending on if it was for you or the other party. Real sweet.

The land line phone came a long way through the years but it's had it's day in the sun.
 
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