Auto Safety Regulators Seek a Driver Mode to Block Apps • Hacker News Board

Re: Auto Safety Regulators Seek a Driver Mode to Block Apps

#71

Post by sandworm101 » Sat, Nov 26, 2016, 5:02 PM UTC

Klathmon wrote: post #70

sandworm101 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Deploy location technology inside a car just to enforce a "driver mode"? A market that consistently rejects tech to enforce speed limits isn't going to accept technology to limit app use in cars. All it will take is one story of someone trapped inside a crashed/stuck car being unable to call for help, or unable to text for help, and nobody will dare to so disable phones. I cannot wait to see that tech also be…

That's overly hyperbolic. Nobody is saying the phone should be completely disabled, just that they should design things so you need to interact with them less. Voice control is a fantastic tool here IMO. But also, would it be that crazy for them to disable these restrictions in the case of an accident? Like how current cars unlock doors, shut off the engine, and put on flashers in the case of an accident now.

Ah, so now we have location within the car, and accident detection. And we would need to detect accidents nearby so that drivers can call 9/11 without getting out their vehicles. This is too many layers of tech simply to stop people from doing something they already know is wrong. Spend all those development cycles on direct anti-drunk, anti-speeding and anti-crash tech.

It's also not all that hyperbolic. Similar tech has been deployed with GPS. During the early days of handhelds many shutdown at high ground speeds as to prevent them being used to guide aircraft. I forget what the speed was (200mph?) but it was well below the arms limitations (mach 2+ and/or 60,000feet).

Re: Auto Safety Regulators Seek a Driver Mode to Block Apps

#72

Post by Klathmon » Sat, Nov 26, 2016, 5:46 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #71

Klathmon wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's overly hyperbolic. Nobody is saying the phone should be completely disabled, just that they should design things so you need to interact with them less. Voice control is a fantastic tool here IMO. But also, would it be that crazy for them to disable these restrictions in the case of an accident? Like how current cars unlock doors, shut off the engine, and put on flashers in the case of an accident now.

Ah, so now we have location within the car, and accident detection. And we would need to detect accidents nearby so that drivers can call 9/11 without getting out their vehicles. This is too many layers of tech simply to stop people from doing something they already know is wrong. Spend all those development cycles on direct anti-drunk, anti-speeding and anti-crash tech. It's also not all that hyperbolic. Similar tec…

Again, it's not like the phone will just shut down and not allow you to do anything, but will most likely have a "car UI" that is limited. The people coming up with these things tend to give them more than a few seconds of thought.

And how many times have you been affected by the GPS thing?

Re: Auto Safety Regulators Seek a Driver Mode to Block Apps

#73

Post by btbuildem » Sat, Nov 26, 2016, 6:09 PM UTC

> Apple iPhones and other hand-held devices have long had an airplane mode that shuts off wireless communications to prevent interference with the vast electronics systems that control modern aircraft.

This is such hogwash -- if there was the remotest possibility of phones etc interfering with onboard instruments of an aircraft, you can bet they'd strip all your electronics off your person at security and stash them in a lead-lined bin in the cargo hold for the journey.

It's amazing people just believe what they're told..

Re: Auto Safety Regulators Seek a Driver Mode to Block Apps

#74

Post by dmode » Sat, Nov 26, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

The Android Auto app on Android smartphones already does this. It has still have some ways to go with other app developers participating, but that could be a model for future.

Re: Auto Safety Regulators Seek a Driver Mode to Block Apps

#75

Post by mikestew » Sat, Nov 26, 2016, 11:00 PM UTC

emp_zealoth wrote: post #58

brian-armstrong wrote: post #55

The solution to this is simple: one way or another, except for people whose job it is to drive, we should stop having people drive cars, whether that means public transit, more bike lanes, or self-driving cars or something else. I do think it's possible to approximately locate a driver's phone, though it will likely work relatively imperfectly. But then consider that driving drunk is also a huge hazard, and yet most…

Man, I'm so tired of the whole self-driving meme It's years off in most of the world, while more and more sophisticated infotaiment screens that can distract the drivers are ALREADY on the market

No shit. Every "problems with driving and cars" thread inevitably has a half dozen people who are way too pleased with themselves saying "won't be a problem in just a few years with self-driving cars!" It's almost the dictionary definition of "hand-wave away". BTW, and I hate to digress, but how's that "year of the Linux desktop" going twenty years later?

I've probably got twenty, thirty years at best left before I depart this mortal coil. When my body reaches room temperature, I expect at best self-driving cars will be an expensive novelty. In the meantime, can we go on with solving today's problems with today's, or near-future technologies and quit hand-waving with vaporware?