MBTA fires bus driver who stepped off to use cellphone

The bus driver thought he found a loophole in the MBTA's new ban on operators using cellphones: He did not bring a cellphone to the job, which is now banned, and he did not talk on one while driving. Cellular News reports.

Instead, the 41-year-old driver put his Route 111 bus in park on Sagamore Street in Chelsea, borrowed a cellphone from a passenger, and spent nearly five minutes talking while riders sat waiting for him, according to a video taken by a camera installed on the bus.

The driver, whose name MBTA officials would not release, was fired Thursday.

... The last employee who violated the new policy, a train attendant on the Orange Line, was slapped this week with a 10-day suspension for wearing a wireless device on his ear.

Air China allows mobile check-in via barcode SMS

Air China has become the latest airline to allow customers to check-in via simple SMS and mobile barcodes. It is initially only available on Tibetan flights and direct flights from Beijing, and only for passengers who booked their tickets via the Air China website. [via GoMo News]

Once a traveller has booked their ticket on-line, they can choose to be sent an SMS anytime from 24 hours to 90 mins before there flight. That SMS contains a link leading to a mobile barcode, which the passenger can use to check through all necessary security gates and onto the place itself.

Study: Teen Girls More Likely to Text-and-Drive Than Teen Boys

According to a study released by The Allstate Foundation and National Organizations for Youth Safety, teenage girls are much more likely to engage in texting and driving than their male counterparts. The organizations surveyed 605 drivers between the ages of 16 and 20.

[via Switched]

It's likely that even while not while driving, girls text more than boys.

Woman files $2 million suit against Southwest over text-messaging dispute

A woman filed a $2 million lawsuit against Southwest Airlines this week for throwing her off a a flight over text messaging, arrested and falsely imprisoned in Nashville last summer. USA Today reports.

Norma Steiner, 47, of Saugus, Calif., "says she was thrown off a flight over text messaging, arrested and falsely imprisoned in Nashville last summer."

A flight attendant came up to Norma Steiner, 47 and "rudely told me to turn off my phone and buckle up." Steiner says she immediately complied. "But," the Tennessean writes, "the attendant returned six times before the plane left the gate, accusing Steiner of not turning her phone off and ignoring her when she tried to show him otherwise, Steiner said."

Sounds like there's more than one side to this story, but the airline is not commenting.

Verizon to Support Bans on Driving While Texting

Verizon Wireless plans to take an active role in supporting statewide efforts to ban texting while driving, the company’s general counsel said in an interview today. [via Bits Blog]

The position against texting-and-driving is in line with that of the CTIA, the mobile-phone industry trade group, but Verizon Wireless is taking a slightly more aggressive stand with its potential lobbying.

Text messaging to blame in Boston trolley collision

A MBTA trolley slammed into the back of another one in downtown Boston last night, injuring 100 and sending 49 to the hospital. In what MBTA officials called an outrage, the driver of the trolley that caused the crash admitted he had been texting his girlfriend at the time and didn’t see the red signal in front of him until it was too late. Thankfully none of the injuries were considered life threatening.

[via Gadgetell]

Texting While Driving a Bus Video

Another wake-up call on why texting and driving don't mix. From MSNBC News via Coolsmartphone.

Cell-phone blockers for NY City cabs

According to the Daily News, New York City may implement cell phone blockers in the front seat of taxi cabs.

Cabbies talking on cell phones continue to be a safety concern for the Taxi and Limousine Commission - and a nuisance to passengers - despite enforcement efforts by the agency, TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus said.

Passengers would still be able to use cell phones, but the front seat would be blocked, Daus said.

Cops hand out 9,000 tickets to drivers talking on cell phones

According to the Daily News, cops handed out a staggering 9,000 summonses in one day to drivers who were caught yapping on their cell phones.

During a 24-hour crackdown Thursday, police zeroed in on motor-mouthed motorists, giving 9,016 of them $120 summonses.

The NYPD warned drivers through media outlets that cops would be on the lookout for drivers who talk on the hand held cell phones without a headset. The initiative began Thursday at midnight and concluded Friday.

In 2008, the NYPD issued 195,579 summonses across the city.

Train driver sent/received 57 SMS on the day of the crash

Cellphone text messages reveal that an engineer whose commuter train collided head-on with a freight train last year, killing 25 people, sometimes allowed teenagers to ride along with him, reports The New York Times.

The Sept. 12 collision in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles killed 25 people aboard the Metrolink train and injured dozens of others. There is no evidence that any teenagers rode the commuter rail with Mr. Sanchez on the day of the crash.

... Safety investigators have said that Mr. Sanchez received and sent 57 text messages while on duty the day of the crash, including one 22 seconds before impact.

Related:

-- Cellphone Use Banned For Train Workers

-- Cell-phone ban sought for California train operators

-- Reckless Text Messaging – Possible Cause Of LA Deadly Train Collision

British Lord Jailed over Fatal Road Accident After Sending Text Messages

Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer in the House of Lords has been jailed for 12 weeks following a conviction for dangerous driving which lead to a fatal crash. He was involved in an accident on Christmas Day 2007 when it hit another motorist who was killed instantly.

He had been accused of sending text messages on his mobile phone whilst driving at 60mph in the dark, just moments prior to the crash.

[via Cellular News]

Related: - British Lord to Be Prosecuted Over "Texting While Driving" Fatal Accident

Budget airline allows mobile phone use on planes

Ryanair began offering a mobile phone service for calls, text messaging and e-mails on some of its flights on Thursday, becoming the first budget carrier in Europe to test the use of cell phones in flight.

[via Forbes]

FAA to Pilots: Cell Phones Off in the Cockpit, Please

Passengers are usually pretty well conditioned to turn off cellphones, Blackberries and laptops before departure. But what about pilots?

The good folks over at Flight Global dug up this interesting FAA safety advisory. While the story is told in subdued government-ese, this must have been a real forehead-slapping moment for the pilot that left his or her cell phone on during the safety inspector’s visit. [via The Wall Street Journal]

While conducting an en route inspection of an air carrier, an aviation safety inspector (ASI) experienced an event that was categorized as a potentially serious hazard. During the takeoff phase, just prior to reaching V1, a rather loud “warbling” sound was detected by both crewmembers. It was later determined that the sound came from the First Officer’s cellular phone, which had been left in the ON position. As a result, the ring tone caused a distraction between the crewmembers during the takeoff phase and could have led the crew to initiate an unnecessary rejected takeoff.

During a debriefing, the crew stated that their General Operations Manual (GOM) did not address procedures prohibiting the crew from leaving their cellular phones in the ON position while at their duty stations. This was verified by the ASI.

The FAA recommends that airlines review their operation manuals to ensure that pilots are reminded to turn off cellphones in preparation for departure. That goes for those occupying jump seats as well.

"Senator Joe Simitian: Your cell phone law sucks" Billboard

"Senator Joe Simitian: Your cell phone law sucks." [via Mercury News]

That's the blunt message on a large billboard off Highway 101 south of the IKEA store in East Palo Alto. Who is behind this? A fellow named Grant Paulson of Pleasanton, who despises California's hands-free cell phone law, authored by Simitian and in place since last summer.

Paulson paid $10,000 for the billboard, money he considers well spent, though many drivers seem to find the verbose, 75-word message a distracting nuisance. Paulson, 47, said Tuesday he doesn't like the cell phone law because he finds it hard to hear calls on hands-free devices and he considers the rule an attack on personal freedoms. He's pushing for a statewide ballot measure to repeal the law.

Picture from the LA Times.

States that ban text-messaging while driving

Banning text messaging while driving generates a lot of press, it seems so obvious that it should be banned. The Orlando Sentinel has a recap of (the too few) laws that have actually been passed.

Seven states have banned text messaging for all drivers: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington. The District of Columbia also bans all drivers from text-messaging.

In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in nine states: Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

School bus drivers are banned from text messaging in Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

For more state-by-state information on cell-phone laws, see Cell Phone Laws.

Woman Sentenced to 21 Months For Fatal Collision While Texting

Another trajedy caused by text messaging while driving.

A woman who caused a fatal car crash in the UK while text messaging has been sentenced to 21 months in jail. Chattabox reports.

Philippa Curtis was driving 70 mph as she busily texted on her phone, and rammed into a car that was parked to the side of the road, where Victoria McBryde had suffered from a flat tire. The collision caused a fatal brain injury, and McBryde was pronounced dead at the scene. Curtis suffered a mild arm injury.

“I can’t really describe in words how bad I actually feel, “ Curtis said tearfully at her sentencing. “I just feel awful that I was involved and I can’t really imagine how the family must feel.”

Related to speeding, but it's really all the same: - Yeah, killing a child will weigh on your mind In the new spot, the U.K.'s Department for Transport, which specializes in dead and wounded children, shows a man being haunted by a boy he's killed while speeding. British road-safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick tells the Guardian that the point of the unsettling spot is to make viewers "consider the consequences of speeding" and think about "what life is like for the driver who kills because [he is] in a rush to get home."

Cell Phones Pose Threat to Child Pedestrians, Study Says

A recent study found that children using cell phones are 43-percent more likely to be hit by a vehicle while crossing the street than are children who are not using cell phones.

The study, conducted by The University of Alabama at Birmingham, focused on 77 children, ages 10 to 11.

[via Switched ]

No Texting While Driving Sign

Spotted on Mobileslate.

Cell Phones to Blame for Half Million Injuries a Year

Best Syndcation reports that cell phones are quickly becoming one of the most common causes of car accidents in the United States and globally.

People in deep conversation or trying to text are taking their eyes off the road and are not able to react in time to avoid collisions or driving off the road.

It is estimated that cell phone-distracted drivers are four times more likely to be in a car wreck. Cell phones, it is estimated, cause over 200 deaths and over 500,000 injuries each year, and since the number of cell phone users increases daily, so will these statistics regarding deaths and injuries due to car accidents.

National Safety Council calls for nationwide ban on cellphone use while driving

There's already been a number of states that have passed some form of ban on cellphone use while driving, but the National Safety Council seems to think that there's still far too many folks out there talking or texting behind the wheel, and it's now calling for an all out nationwide ban on the practice.

[via engadget:mobile]

Just Call Them 'Textlemmings'

The phenomenon of pedestrians stepping in front of moving cars while texting furiously on a handheld device or cell phone may seem brand new. For Peter Norton, a University of Virginia professor who has studied the historic relationship between pedestrians and motorists, it represents only the latest chapter in an old story. [via Cellular News]

Every time you introduce a new technology, we have to figure out how it fits into the existing technological structure,” said Norton, author of “Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. ”

... Today it’s texting. A century ago it was reading books while crossing the street in traffic. Norton has several cartoons that illustrate that very subject - pedestrians with noses buried in books stepping in front of angry motorists.

“We’ll probably never know how big the problem of reading while crossing the street was,” Norton said. “But it was certainly an issue that was being talked about."

Car key prevents teenagers from using mobile phones while driving

The University of Utah engineers have taken this issue and designed a wireless car key device that stops users from talking on their cell phone or sending text messages while behind the wheel. SlashGear reports.

Each driver of a car will have a separate key device. When the key is extended from the device, it emits a signal that puts the teenagers phone into “Driving Mode,” so that it may not be used.

While in driving mode the phone will display a stop sign to try and get the teenager in the habit of leaving the phone alone while driving. The university has licensed the Key2SafeDribving technology to a private company in hopes to have this product marketed within six months. They hope to have this distributed through a cell phone provider if at all possible.

Cell phones distract drivers more than passengers

Cell phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger and using a hands-free device does not make things better, reports Reuters.

The esearchers believe they know why -- passengers act as a second set of eyes, shutting up or sometimes even helping when they see the driver needs to make a maneuver.

... Lee Strayer of the University of Utah and colleagues have found in a series of experiments using driving simulators that hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as handheld models.

In-Flight Wi-Fi Aboard the Virgin Party Plane

On a flight from San Francisco to San Francisco that seemed loosely based on the Snoop Dogg film Soul Plane, Virgin America demoed its Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service this past weekend amid a cabin full of Web celebrities and PCWorld reporter Tim Moynihan.

The Gogo wireless service, which Virgin America says will be deployed on all 25 planes in its fleet by mid-2009, uses a system developed by Aircell. A receiver on the underbelly of the plane connects to a network of cellular towers across the United States to establish an EV-DO Revision A broadband link.

In the cabin, passengers connect to this cellular broadband network on any Wi-Fi-enabled device.

Watch the PC World video of the giddy passengers or a live stream from YouTube.

British Lord to Be Prosecuted Over "Texting While Driving" Fatal Accident

A British Lord is to be prosecuted for alleged dangerous driving after it was claimed that he had sent a text message from his mobile phone, just moments before a fatal road accident. Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer in the House of Lords was involved in an accident on Christmas Day last year when it hit another motorist who was killed instantly.

Checks later carried out found that the same phone which was used to call the emergency services had also been used to send a text message just before the accident occurred.

[via Cellular News]

'Jammers' to make mobile phone use OK on flights

At first I gleefully thought this meant that passengers could jam other passengers cell phones, but it's not the case. The jammers are meant to block passengers' mobile phones from picking up multiple signals from numerous base stations on the ground - without interfering with other on-board communications systems.

[via The Age]

Software prevents mobile phone chatting while driving

Aegis Mobility has developed DriveAssist , software that offers parents and corporations the ability to stay in touch with their teens or employees, while ensuring responsible mobile phone use while driving.

DriveAssist detects when phones are moving at automobile speeds and then tells callers that the person they are trying to reach is driving.

Callers are invited to leave messages or call-back numbers., just like a personal assistant. The DriveAssist service will be available through Mobile Operators. The service allows E911 calls and includes an override feature so you can make calls while a passenger.

[via Yahoo Tech]

Schwarzenegger Terminates Texting While Driving in California

Gizmodo reports that California is joining seven other states and Washington DC by imposing a full-on ban of text messaging while driving.

The bill signed by the Governator himself imposes a $20 fine for the first offense and $50 for repeat offenders starting next year.

Text messaging lowers your IQ by 10 points

In an article on the dangers of being distracted while texting messaging when engaged in other activities, like walking or driving, The New York Times has a quote from aul Saffo, a technology trend forecaster in Silicon Valley who claims that sending an SMS lowers your IQ.

"The act of texting automatically removes 10 I.Q. points. “The truth of the matter is there are hobbies that are incompatible. You don’t want to do mushroom-hunting and bird-watching at the same time, and it is the same with texting and other activities. We have all seen people walk into parking meters or walk into traffic and seem startled by oncoming cars.”

Cellphone Use Banned For Train Workers

California train operators are temporarily banned from using cellphones on duty, one day after investigators confirmed that the engineer of a train involved in last week's deadly collision was text messaging while working.

[via The Washington Post]

Related:

-- Cell-phone ban sought for California train operators

-- Reckless Text Messaging – Possible Cause Of LA Deadly Train Collision