Washington state has always worked to make our roadways more safe. We were early adopters of seat belt laws, drunk driving laws, and more recently, graduated drivers licensing. We were also early adopters of bans on texting while driving.
While the goals of such laws are to reduce traffic collisions and make our roads safer, laws alone can’t solve the entire problem.
Parents teaching and modeling good behavior is key. Proper education in traffic safety courses is also important. And emotional appeals like this famous video from the U.K. will help move some people to change their behavior. [Viewer disclaimer: the video simulates a car crash with very realistic images.]
All of these efforts are important. But it’s possible, and somewhat ironic, that the best tool to get us to quit using technology while driving a vehicle may be – technology.
There’s a new device called OrigoSafe that can be integrated into a vehicle’s ignition and braking system, similar to an ignition interlock device used for DUI offenders.
From KOMO News:
“You put your cell phone in a docking station that’s connected to your ignition and your parking brake,” says David Musyt, marketing director with Virginia-based Origo. “You cannot start your vehicle without (placing) the phone in the docking station.”
If the driver takes the phone out of the dock while driving, an alarm sounds until the phone is replaced. That’s when your teenager’s real problems begin.
Undocking the phone “unauthorizes” it as a key. Next time the driver tries to start the car, it won’t work. The driver will have to call home and get a new one-time code from Mom or Dad.
“So not only do they have to call their parents to get authorization to restart the car,” Musyt says, “but they also have to have a discussion with that parent about distracted driving.”
Distracted driving continues to be a problem in this country. It was responsible for 3,331 fatalities and 387,000 injuries in 2011. But perhaps effective laws, strong modeling, good education, and improved technology can get those numbers down to zero.
Some key facts about distracted driving:
- Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death of teenagers.
- Texting while driving is just as dangerous as drinking and driving.
- If you look down at a text for nearly five seconds at 55 MPH, that’s like driving the length of a football field – blindfolded. (Webmaster note: The page linked here is no longer up-to-date and is a dead link. Please see a similar statistic found here on the Distraction.Gov website.