Do you text and Drive..watch this very moving video...and please stop

[Richard L]

Bill V.

Actually it is possible if a small, low powered, directional repeater antenna was installed in the vehicle and only activated when the vehicle was running or in motion. That could block or scramble all cellular devices in the vehicle. The newer vehicles could also contain shielding that blocks cellular signals unless the phone is connected via BlueTooth and then it could broadcast through an external antenna. The technology exist, but it is just a matter of cost and a car maker and a cellphone maker willing to push the issue.



...Rich

 

[Jackson Ellis]

My BMW 335i had the technology to know if the key fob was in the car. If the fob was inside the car, the car would start with a push button and a foot on the brake. If it was outside the car, the car would not start. It was very accurate; i.e., it could be inside the door pocket and the car would know it was inside. But I could be standing right outside the car, and the car would not start with someone else inside trying to start it. I never tried a lot of testing to see where the borderline actually was around the car. It was a 2007 model.

 

[Richard L]

Bill V,

ncstatewolpacker is correct,

The technology is known as NFC (Near Field Communications) Many newer cars have the technology as well as some new cellphones.



My idea is just an extension of that technology where the car or cellphone senses that cellphone is in the vehicle that is in gear or in motion, and that triggers the cellphone to disable the Texting or Email appilications. It may even be possible to use a modified form of BlueTooth, since most newer cellphones are BlueTooth compatible....of course it would be an RF signal that could not be disconnected by the cellphone user. This same technology could be used to disable cellphones in any building or area where communications security is necessary. It may even be possible for the NFC signal to specify which cellphone features are disabled...ie: Voice, Text, email, perhaps even cameras, etc.



It does not have to broadcast such a powerful signal to disable every cellphone in a 100 foot radius, but just the cellphones within the NFC range inside the vehicle. I even think that this could be narrowed down to pinpoint the cellphone in the close proximity of the drivers seat which would allow passengers to use their mobile devices while only disabling the driver's cellphone while the vehicle is in gear or in motion....but even if it could only block the texting and email apps for all mobile devices in the vehicle that would be acceptable to me.



All of this technolgy is available now, but it will require a collaboration of automakers and cellphone companies to develope a common NFC technology that can be built into all vehicles and cellphones.



...Rich

 

[H D]

Maybe people could just act like adults responsible enough to have the privilege to drive a vehicle.



:argue:

 

[Kevin Lang]

If we get some sort of cabal going between the phone makers, the car makers and the federal government (or California) to reach into our cars and take away our phones while driving then we'll just have to go back to reading books & papers propped up against the steering wheel, like it was (and still is) :grin:.



BTW, Ford made Sync standard for some 2013 models (sadly not my 2012 but...) Making Sync & sync-equivalents better and ubiquitous seems like a much better way to resolve this issue.



Old ideas have a way of coming back "en vogue" every so often, so does anyone know when Personal Responsibility is going to come back?

 

[Robert Thomas]

Old ideas have a way of coming back "en vogue" every so often, so does anyone know when Personal Responsibility is going to come back?

Maybe people could just act like adults responsible enough to have the privilege to drive a vehicle

:bwahaha::bwahaha: :cry::cry:



Now those two statements are funny, funny in a very sad way.



I don't know about anyone else but after a while it gets irritating that because someone else is stupid, I get regulated.

 

[Richard L]

KL,

I agree. It's sad that we have to make laws or devices to prevent people from doing stupid things, but in those immortal words of Ron White: "You can't fix Stupid".



If there were guarantees that stupid people where the only people injured or killed for their stupd actions we would not need most of our laws and safety regulations.



It appears that with all the technology we have, people are getting dumber and have less common sense?



I don't understand your reference to the government taking away our cellphones? I am only talking about disabling the Texting and Email Apps when the vehicle is in motion...for obvious safety reasons...People should not be given the choice about texting while driving. Reading books and newspapers is really not that much of an issue since those who are texting are not likely to read books or newspapers while driving....



The people who I am referring to are obsessed on being connected 24/7 and think they must be texting people every waking hour. To them, texting is more of an addiction just like many people on FaceBook or other social media who feel the need to inform the world about their every thought or what they are doing every moment of their life.???



Technology created the problem, and I think technology can resolve the problem.



...Rich

 

[H D]

I was forced into a smart phone because my wife was embarrassed by my having a flip phone in 2012 and she bought one for my birthday. Granted, I was due for a free upgrade for well over a year but the old one was still working just fine, lol. She still doesn't understand situations like a couple nights ago when I forgot my phone in my truck but didn't feel the need to go get it, especially since I didn't need the alarm to make sure I'd be awake by 1pm to get to work.



I loathe texting people at a standstill, let alone while driving. I am often accused of being short with people in my texts (as if they can tell my attitude in 3 or 4 words). You're too lazy to call, I'm too lazy to text. What's the difference?



I do hate that I now use text lingo as evidenced above. I was intensely against using LOL and the such at first but I guess I'm adapting. Probably more because of forums than texting, though. Nobody seems to send me funny texts. I'm embarrassingly unhip for someone in their 20s and having grown up in the technology era. I lost interest in tech after Windows '95 became obsolete, roughly at the age of 15. Probably for the best for my personal life; not so good for my finances. I would have gone to Georgia Tech if I had stuck with my plans at the age of 15. Oh, the agony:throwup:...and oh, the money...:banghead: I bet I'd [care to] know how to use my phone, though.

 

[Richard L]

Hugh,

I agree with you 100%. When I got my first cellphone, it was only for emergencies and I only had 30 minutes air time with my $9.99 a month plan.



Now that people insist on texting it was running my bill up when it exceeded the 10 text messages I was allowed so now I have to have unlimited text just so I don't have to pay extra.



When I was working (Retired now) my company gave me a Blackberry and I was on-call 24/7, although I rarely ever got called earlier than 7:00am or later than 7:00pm...and I only got a few calls on Saturday.



I got used to a lot of the smartphone apps and began to rely on them like we rely on computers. Now I don't have a landline telephone in my house (but I do have a MagicJack)...I give that number to anyone I don't really care if they call because I rarely answer and let them leave a voice mail..If they don't leave a voice mail, I will not call them back.



I use my current Smartphone as a PDA, telephone, navagation device, for finding the cheapest gas, and keeping track of my bank accounts while traveling. I think the technology is great but I don't text while driving. I might read a text while stopped at a traffic light, but I only give short replies like "OK" or "Driving now TTYL". etc. I even have an app that lets me text predefined messages so I don't have to type.



...Rich

 

[Richard L]

Hugh,

I agree with you 100%. When I got my first cellphone, it was only for emergencies and I only had 30 minutes air time with my $9.99 a month plan.



Now that people insist on texting it was running my bill up when it exceeded the 10 text messages I was allowed so now I have to have unlimited text just so I don't have to pay extra.



When I was working (Retired now) my company gave me a Blackberry and I was on-call 24/7, although I rarely ever got called earlier than 7:00am or later than 7:00pm...and I only got a few calls on Saturday.



I got used to a lot of the smartphone apps and began to rely on them like we rely on computers. Now I don't have a landline telephone in my house (but I do have a MagicJack)...I give that number to anyone I don't really care if they call because I rarely answer and let them leave a voice mail..If they don't leave a voice mail, I will not call them back.



I use my current Smartphone as a PDA, telephone, navagation device, for finding the cheapest gas, and keeping track of my bank accounts while traveling. I think the technology is great but I don't text while driving. I might read a text while stopped at a traffic light, but I only give short replies like "OK" or "Driving now TTYL". etc. I even have an app that lets me text predefined messages so I don't have to type.



...Rich

 

[Richard L]

Hugh,

I agree with you 100%. When I got my first cellphone, it was only for emergencies and I only had 30 minutes air time with my $9.99 a month plan.



Now that people insist on texting it was running my bill up when it exceeded the 10 text messages I was allowed so now I have to have unlimited text just so I don't have to pay extra.



When I was working (Retired now) my company gave me a Blackberry and I was on-call 24/7, although I rarely ever got called earlier than 7:00am or later than 7:00pm...and I only got a few calls on Saturday.



I got used to a lot of the smartphone apps and began to rely on them like we rely on computers. Now I don't have a landline telephone in my house (but I do have a MagicJack)...I give that number to anyone I don't really care if they call because I rarely answer and let them leave a voice mail..If they don't leave a voice mail, I will not call them back.



I use my current Smartphone as a PDA, telephone, navagation device, for finding the cheapest gas, and keeping track of my bank accounts while traveling. I think the technology is great but I don't text while driving. I might read a text while stopped at a traffic light, but I only give short replies like "OK" or "Driving now TTYL". etc. I even have an app that lets me text predefined messages so I don't have to type.



...Rich