There was a time when smoking was permitted in restaurants, when seat belt use was not mandatory, when children were not required to wear helmets when bike riding. Then the science of safety interceded, and state lawmakers – in Connecticut and elsewhere – took notice. The convenience of technology, however, may be another matter.
Writing in The Hartford Courant this week, teen driving safety advocate Tim Hollister, who was a member of the Governor’s Safe Teen Driving Task Force in 2007-8 and publishes a national blog for parents of teen drivers, called for a ban on the use of electronic devices while driving, citing increasing evidence of the dangers of distracted driving. And a new study by a Texas university concluded that voice-to-text is as dangerous and traditional typed texting.
Hollister points out that six leading public health and traffic safety organizations (World Health Organization, National Transportation Safety Council, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the Governor’s Highway Safety Association) “now agree that hands-free cellphone use is just as dangerous as hand-held. Both cause cognitive blindness.”
With the addition of a new law passed in Hawaii last week, 40 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Guam have banned text messaging for all drivers using hand-held devices. Hawaii becomes just the 11th state (including Connecticut, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) to prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. Not a single state prohibits hands-free dialing, and neither state nor federal action appears on the horizon. In fact, just the opposite is true.
Even as evidence of hazards grows, so do the range of electronic options. Ford is one of a number of companies aggressively marketing electronic devices that offer more in-car options. The company’s voice activated Sync technology, available beginning with 2012 models, includes hands-free calling, 411 business search, audible text messaging, and internet connectivity.
Hollister points out that “on tv and the internet, advertisements tout devices that enable texting by allowing drivers to attach their cellphones to the windshield so the screen is aligned with their view of the road.”
A new study from the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University reveals that sending those messages using voice-to-text software is just as distracting as looking down at your phone and typing messages by hand.
There's more to the story at http://ctbythenumbers.info/2013/06/02/dangers-of-distracted-driving-attract-renewed-attention-propos...
