181–190 of 293 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem for Apple is they don't know you're not a passenger.
Let's make that Apple's problem and not that of the people they kill. If the phone cannot distinguish driver from passenger, shut it off.
Making tools liable for their stupid users is not a good idea.
I'm a cyclist. Over the past 5 years or so I've learned to check inside of people's cars to see if they have a phone in their hands. If they do, I try to keep as much distance between myself and them as possible. Until we change the incentives, distracted driving is very likely to remain a problem. Right now there's a lot of talk but very little action. I live in Austin, and I've spoken with the police about distract…
I see the new Subaru's have this feature where they seem to track your eyes and alert you if you're looking down at your lap. I think that could be a possible solution, it needs to be in the vehicle since the vehicle is the thing causing the damage, not the mobile device. I don't like Apple's method: When it senses you moving (which gets triggered for false positives as mentioned), it locks your phone unless you pres…
This is taken as an obvious truth, but when you look at actual collision data, there seems to be no effect whatsoever. In fact, our roads have continued to become safer in the 10 or so years since the release of the iPhone.
Traffic fatalities in the US have been trending up since 2014. Edit: corrected to 2014, not 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...
Note that fatalities per 100M population has not just been trending up, but it is doing so after trending down for many previous years.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's trivial to mandate a phone be designed so that it can't be used in a moving car or for a certain amount of time since it has experienced significant acceleration. In fact you could ban certain apps like txting and calling during these times. I guess you could even mandate tech to help the phone figure out where in the car the person is sitting and only disable their phone.
> It's trivial to mandate a phone be designed so that it can't be used in a moving car or for a certain amount of time since it has experienced significant acceleration No, no it is not. Because a phone is a computer. And a computer should be ultimately under its owners control, running software they choose. The reason why we have a "war on general purpose computing" is because there are many things that would seemin…
It's mandated that you can't drive a car without a license. But the enforcement is done by the cops, not by the car.
It's mandated that you can't own a gun unless you meet certain criteria. But the enforcement is done by the cops, not by the gun.
And so on...
It can be mandated that you can't use a phone while driving. But the enforcement must be done by the cops, not by the phone. If the cops don't do it correctly, then the right course of action is to fix that, not to restrict the phone.
Because once we do start restricting ubiquitous personal devices in order to enforce the government's rules, it will never stop. Democracy can never work if freedom is granted by the government - the people must be able to do whatever they want, with the government potentially revoking a person's freedom after the violation if it finds one.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I see this comparison a lot, and I just want to clarify: when you are distracted as a pedestrian, you're risking your life. When you are distracted as a driver, you're risking other people's lives. You are letting distracted pedestrians off too lightly. They are not just risking their own lives; they are risking the lives of motorists, cyclists, and other pedestrians by potentially forcing motorists and cyclists in…
True. It's not good. But I'd argue we should also not include them in the same category, because they dilute the severity of the matter. Sorry to be cruel, but I'm passionate about drunk and distracted driving. Less so about drunk pedestrians. I'd really like to focus our efforts and not get distracted. Let's start a separate conversation about texting pedestrians. I'll join. But please let's keep this one about just…
Also, if the issue is an attitude of "no fucks given", then they seem just as severe to me because then they might take their "no fucks" on to the road.
I was in San Jose and there was a young woman who was behind me. We were stopped in a turn lane waiting for the green. This girl literally engaged in this unprotected left turn while looking straight downward into her lap. like, completely 90 degrees neck bent downwards without looking up whatsoever. She was half way through the turn, half fucking way, before I laid on my horn. She knew exactly who that horn was for and she bolted upright with a very pouty look on her face. She could have easily killed someone.
Everyone seems to agree that this is a serious and deadly problem. Therefore I think it is justified to discuss the problem in as much of an open fashion as possible, not overlooking any patterns or aspects of the problem that might help to solve it, no matter how unpopular. The fact of the matter is that 90 percent of the time I see someone looking straight down into their laps while operating 2000 pounds of metal, they are a young female. Girls have a problem with phones. Nobody would argue with me if I said that guys have a problem with high speeds, as the insurance companies know. And I’m sorry but girls have a problem with phones. It’s just true. It might help to put on a PSA targeting them. But the ultimate solution is to just not let young people drive. It doesn’t make any sense to let these children drive. 90 percent of the time I observe a car doing something dangerous and I am able to see inside, it’s a young person. Letting people drive at 16 is fucking retarded.
And some enforcement of drunk driving would be nice too. The few times I’ve been at bars, I saw people streaming out the back at closing, all of them drunk with keys in their hands. Nobody does anything.
Here's my test for phone addiction (for men): If you are pissing into a urinal and need to look at your phone during those 15 seconds, you have a problem. And I see this a lot . A scary game: when in stop and go traffic, have a look at the person behind you. Are their eyes on the road, or their lap? In my experience, 7 out of 10 are looking at their lap, with a quick glance up every 5 seconds or so. I spend plenty of…
It used to be a nerdy geek joke... but these days I see it as a bit of a statement on my and (what others) driving habits should be.
Here's my test for phone addiction (for men): If you are pissing into a urinal and need to look at your phone during those 15 seconds, you have a problem. And I see this a lot . A scary game: when in stop and go traffic, have a look at the person behind you. Are their eyes on the road, or their lap? In my experience, 7 out of 10 are looking at their lap, with a quick glance up every 5 seconds or so. I spend plenty of…
I'm a cyclist. Over the past 5 years or so I've learned to check inside of people's cars to see if they have a phone in their hands. If they do, I try to keep as much distance between myself and them as possible. Until we change the incentives, distracted driving is very likely to remain a problem. Right now there's a lot of talk but very little action. I live in Austin, and I've spoken with the police about distract…
And for that matter, pedestrians also check their phones while walking and put themselves in danger or just obstruct the pedestrian flow around them. Luckily that is less likely to harm somebody than a car or cyclist.
But let’s not restrict this issue to just drivers. There’s a universal obsession with phones, and people who are unable to stop themselves (whether driving, cycling, walking) if they do need to send a text or email.