Feds ban texting by truck, bus drivers

A crackdown on texting while driving entered a new phase Tuesday when the federal government banned the practice on handheld devices for bus drivers and commercial truckers. USA Today reports.

... The new restrictions take effect immediately and apply to interstate truckers and operators of vehicles carrying at least eight passengers. Violators face penalties up to $2,750.

Oprah's campaign to stop texting while driving

Millions of people do it every day, and it's time that we stopped. If you think you have the cell phone, texting and driving thing down…you do not, says Oprah.

She invited people on her show who lost loved ones to cellpone-driving crashes.

On her website, a No Phone Zone where readers are invited to Take the Pledge to make your car a no-phone zone and pass it on.

A Road Text: See what happens when their driving is put to the test.

Find out what you are missing: Think you can drive and chat at the same time? See what distracted driving really does to your brain.

Take the Quizz: How much do you know about the dangers of distracted driving? Put your knowledge to the test.

And for a reality check, watch people talk about their loved ones lost to distracted driving.

Previously: - Oprah to launch campaign against distracted driving

Study Suggests There's a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic

According to the New York Times:

Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according to a study conducted by Ohio State University, which says it is the first to estimate such accidents.

[via Gizmodo]

Related:

-- Cell-phone Use - but Not Music - Reduces Pedestrian Safety

-- Mobile phone users cannot walk in straight line

-- 6 million people hurt in the UK in 2007 while texting and talking

-- Padded lampost to protect texters was PR stunt

-- Suggested Bill banning iPods and cellphones for NY pedestrians

-- Study: Walking and Talking in Step

-- Padded lampost to protect texters was a PR stunt

Oprah to launch campaign against distracted driving

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Oprah will be launching a campaign on Monday asking drivers to commit to not text-messaging or talking on cell phones while driving.

28% of Road crashes involve cell phones

Twenty-eight per cent of all traffic accidents are caused when people talk on cellphones or send text messages while driving, according to a study released Tuesday by the U.S. National Safety Council.

[via TheStar.com]

Related: - New advocacy group against cellphoning-while-driving

New advocacy group against cellphoning-while-driving

A new advocacy group fashioned after MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) will work to spread awareness about the danger of driving while distracted by texting or talking on mobile devices. On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation and the nonprofit National Safety Council plan to launch FocusDriven, "Advocates for Cell-Free Driving."

[via boingboing]

Ford offers Twitter for cars

A couple of week ago, Ford announced that cars with its next-generation SYNC system will be turning the entire car into a Wi-Fi hot spot, or as I see it, encourage distracted driving.

Yesterday, USA Today reports that Ford will be incorporating a Twitter application into its next-generation SYNC in-car communication system.

Drivers won't be able to compose tweets (though that may come), but the system reads them as they stream in.

Not good.

US Government Launches "Distraction.Gov" Web Site

The campaign against distracted driving gets another platform in a Web site just launched by the Department of Transportation, d!straction.gov.

[via Insideline.com]

Ford to offer In-Car Wi-Fi

Talking on a cell phone and texting reduce concentration dramatically while driving, but how about updating your Facebook page, surfing the Internet or watching a TV episode?

Ford Motor Company is going to let you (and your teenage children who just got their license) do just that! On Monday the car company announced that cars with its next-generation SYNC system will be able to turn the entire car into a Wi-Fi hot spot.

It wouldn't be a bad idea as long as it only worked when the car was at a full stop, motor turned off, but this is not the case, it will be available while you drive.

[via Newsfactor Network]

Promoting the Car Phone, Despite Risks

Worth a look: In interactive timeline, see how cell phone ads conflicted with studies on distracted driving.

[The New York Times via twitter.com/nytimes]

Cell-phone Use - but Not Music - Reduces Pedestrian Safety

Two new studies of pedestrian safety found that using a cell phone while hoofing it can endanger one's health. Older pedestrians, in particular, are impaired when crossing a busy (simulated) street while speaking on a mobile phone, the researchers found. Cellular News reports.

The studies, in which participants crossed a virtual street while talking on the phone or listening to music, found that the music-listeners were able to navigate traffic as well as the average unencumbered pedestrian. Users of hands-free cell phones, however, took longer to cross the same street under the same conditions and were more likely to get run over.

... The first study, in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, found that college-age adults who were talking on a cell phone took 25 percent longer to cross the street than their peers who were not on the phone. They were also more likely to fail to cross the street in the 30 seconds allotted for the task, even though their peers were able to do so.

Each participant walked on a manual treadmill in a virtual environment, meaning that each encountered the exact same conditions - the same number and speed of cars, for example - as their peers.

The second (and not yet published) study gave adults age 60 and above the same tasks, and included some participants who had a history of falling. The differences between those on and off the phone were even more striking in the older group, Kramer said.

Related:

-- Mobile phone users cannot walk in straight line

-- 6 million people hurt in the UK in 2007 while texting and talking

-- Padded lampost to protect texters was PR stunt

-- Suggested Bill banning iPods and cellphones for NY pedestrians

-- Study: Walking and Talking in Step

Britain Gets Tough on drivers who Text while Driving

A hearbreaking story in The New York Times of a young woman who has been sentenced to a high-security women’s prison, for killing someone much like herself, while texting and driving.

... Britain’s new guidelines state that using a hand-held phone when causing a death will “always make the offense more serious” in terms of punishment and lead to prison time. Texting is given special treatment.

7,000 fines issued in NY City daylong crackdown on cellphones and driving

Last Thursday, in a daylong crackdown, The New York City Police Department issued 7,529 fines - which are normally $130 - to drivers caught talking on their cellphone while at the wheel.

This is actually an improvement and 1,500 fewer than were written on the first crackdown day in May. However, it was about 100 more than were written on a similar day in August.

[CityRoom]

Mobile phone users cannot walk in straight line

People chatting on mobile phones are oblivious to their surroundings and can pose a risk to themselves and others, scientists have claimed, reports The Telegraph.

Researchers made the discovery by watching the movements of hundreds of people as they crossed a university campus.

They then got a clown to ride a unicycle around the campus square and asked how many phone users spotted him as they walked by.

They found that those that used mobile phones meandered randomly and failed to ackowledge other pedesterians.

More than two-thirds also failed to notice the clown, even though he wore a purple and yellow shirt, outsized shoes and a giant red nose.

... Professor Ira Hyman, a psychologist who led the study at Western Washington University in the USA, called the phenomenon “attentional blindness”.

The study does not imply that people should be banned from walking and talking, but it backs up safety concerns about the use of the phones in cars.

Read full article.

Related:

-- 6 million people hurt in the UK last year while texting and talking

-- Padded lampost to protect texters was PR stunt

NYC Plans to Forbid Taxi Drivers from Using Cellphones

In November or December, the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission will be voting on the implementation of new rules for taxi drivers. [NY Post via NYConvergence]

These rules would not only ban them from talking on a cellphone, but they also would ban any technology, except for voice-activated GPS units, capable of distracting the driver in any manner while the cab is moving.

The new regulations would also come with skyrocketed fines and a "three-strikes-and-yer-out system" in which repeat offenders will have their licenses revoked.

Maria Shriver caught calling while driving

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling out his wife, Maria Shriver, for apparently violating a state law he signed -- holding her cell phone while driving. TMZ posted pictures.

[via The Huffington Post]

Bus driver gets fired after calling back management

A bus driver in Stockholm has to quit his job after using his cell phone when driving the bus. Stockholm News reports.

The driver was caught on tape this Tuesday when a passenger filmed him with a mobile phone camera. On the film it seems like he was sending text messages while driving the bus with his forearms.

The driver, who had a trial employment, says to the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter that he only tried to get in touch with the management since they had tried to call him just before. The management does not want to comment on this particular case but says that they never call the drivers when they are driving.

Representatives for the trade union believe the company puts all the blame on the driver to avoid criticism against their own practice and regulations.

UK Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman has car accident while using cell phone

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman is being investigated by the police after she was involved in a traffic collision while using her mobile phone, it was revealed last night, reports The Guardian.

The accident did not result in any injuries.

Related: - British Lord Jailed over Fatal Road Accident After Sending Text Messages

Jon Stewart Exposes CNN's Texting and Driving Silliness

The Daily Show about CNN's report on the dangers of texting while driving.

[via Comedy Central]

Obama bans text messaging by gov't drivers

President Barack Obama signed an executive order barring the nation's 3 million federal workers from sending text messages while driving government vehicles, the White House said Thursday.

The directive, ordered Wednesday night, also applies to privately owned vehicles if the employee is on official business.

[via The Detroit News]

Foreign Airlines Ahead of U.S. on Cellphone Use

Cellphone use on airplanes, it would seem, is on extended hold in the United States. The New York Times reports.

The national union representing flight attendants wants Congress to ban in-flight phone calls, and survey after survey of airline passengers shows strong opposition to allowing cellphones on planes.

... In much of the rest of the world, meanwhile, passengers on various foreign airlines are already routinely using cellphones and other personal wireless devices to make and receive calls in flight. Industry officials say cellphones can be used on more than 15,000 flights a month.

Read full article.

New Zealand to Ban Cell Phone GPS Features While Driving

New Zealand is taking their cell phones-while-driving-ban beyond text messaging and calling, prohibiting the use of GPS, reports Cellular News.

Under the new law, that would be illegal, according to Transport Ministry spokesman John Summers: "The Road User Amendment Rule 2009 means drivers will not be able to look at a navigation aid on a mobile phone when driving, even if it is mounted on the dashboard.

"You can use a mobile phone held in a cradle while driving, but only to make, receive or terminate a phone call. You cannot use them in any other way, such as reading a GPS map, reading email or consulting an electronic diary."

The restriction will only apply to navigation systems with mobile phone functionality.

A one man campaign against distracted driving

Jeff Larson of Safe Roads Alliance campaigning against distracted driving by offering drivers $1 to hang up phones.

[via The Boston Globe]

Auto industry supports ban on texting in cars

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Wednesday announced its support for banning text messaging using a hand-held device or calling using a hand-held device while driving a motor vehicle, saying the visual/manual task interferes with the attention a driver needs to safely operate an automobile.

"Alliance member companies have long recognized the risks of distracted driving. That’s why automakers voluntarily developed and implemented guidelines for integrated advanced information and communications systems," added Alliance President and CEO Dave McCurdy.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade association of 11 car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen.

[Press release via Cellular News]

Previously: - Ford Backs Ban on Text Messaging by Drivers

Ford Works to Develop Voice-to-Text System

Looking to add to its winning Sync system, Ford is researching a voice-to-text system that would allow drivers to keep the utility of text-messaging without taking their eyes off the road. Ford is so far the only automaker to endorse the national texting ban.

[via KickingTires]

Continental Airlines sends boarding passes to cell phones

Starting today Continental passengers in Philadelphia who go to the airline's Web site within 24 hours of their flights can get their boarding passes e-mailed to cell phones or personal digital assistants, like a BlackBerry or Palm.

The paperless boarding pass has an encrypted tamper-proof bar code, identifying the passenger, and the usual information - flight number, seat assignment, gate, and departure time.

[via The Philadelphia Inquirer]

Related:

-- American Airlines introduces mobile boarding passes

-- Delta Adds Cell Phone Boarding Pass

-- Lufthansa trials mobile boarding pass

Ford Backs Ban on Text Messaging by Drivers

The Ford Motor Company on Thursday became the first automaker to endorse a federal ban on sending text messages while driving, reports The New York Times.

Ford issued a statement in support of legislation proposed by Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, that would cut by 25 percent the federal highway financing given to states that did not comply with a text-messaging ban. Ford also said it supported a similar proposal in the House by Carolyn McCarthy, Democrat of New York.

... The ban would not affect use of Ford’s in-car communications and entertainment system, called Ford Sync, which allows most mobile phones to be used hands-free. The system can also read text messages aloud to the driver.

iPhone game conveys road safety

Australian road authorities are so worried about mobile phones distracting young drivers that they have become among the first in the world to convey their safety messages through iPhone games and video game billboards, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Victoria Roads this week launched a free iPhone game, CityGT, which plays like a simple car racing game but is peppered with road safety messages.

Players steer the car by rotating the phone and while they are driving the phone rings.

If they answer, the car immediately crashes and a safety message is displayed, but if they ignore the ring they are able to continue playing to the end of the race and receive a score.

Moms put a face on the dangers of teen driving

Driving It Home is heart-wrenching program that makes teens sit up and listen. Parents who have lost cherished children in car accidents lecture them on safety as technological distractions have made the task of driving all the more perilous. HeraldNet reports.

“They say it gets easier as time goes by. It’s a lie,” said Sue Crolley, Josh’s mother. “The first year you’re in total shock. The second year slams you in the face — it did happen. I’ll never have grandchildren, never see him get married, or have his first date. He never got to graduate.

“Those are the things you can never get back,” the Arlington woman said Friday.

Crolley is one of the scheduled speakers at a Driving It Home collision awareness seminar starting at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Stanwood High School auditorium.

Amusement Park Operators Texting on the Job

CBS Chicago conducted an undercover surveillance of amusement park operators and filmed then texting repeatedly while operating the rides. Horrifying.