Tech

Get You Some Disconnection: Vehicles Are NOT Computer Workstations

Converting an automobile into an internet connected workstation is a bad idea. Texting while driving is becoming illegal in many states and some have a ban on any type of cell phone use by novice drivers and school bus drivers.

There is also a heated discussion raging now about the possibility of law enforcement checking your cell phone use if you're involved in a car accident. If they can prove you were texting, checking email, posting Facebook updates, uploading photos to Twitter, or talking on your cell phone at the time of the collision, the fact will be noted on your ticket and be relayed to your insurance company.

AllThingsD recently published an article on apps and tools that help humans do stuff on their cell phones while they're supposed to be paying attention to the road, the speedometer, and other traffic:

One venture capitalist who spends endless hours driving between Sand Hill Road and San Francisco, confided in me that he often uses the built-in iPhone VoiceOver accessibility option to read articles and emails out loud while he’s driving.

Basically, he swipes at his phone to select blocks of text so he can hear them spoken in robot voice.

But it’s a total hack that’s easy to mess up for the uninitiated — who might, like me, end up locked out of their phones because VoiceOver mode changes how touch gestures work, and I had no idea how to enter my passcode properly.

All these "solutions" involve drivers interacting with their cell phones, thus they are still in the realm of dangerous distraction. Even passively listening to emails being spoken by an app, then responding to them by voice is a distraction, especially if a lot of thought has to go into the reply. It's basically a technology-enhanced version of daydreaming, a production-driven reverie.

My dad used to tell me, "When you're driving a car, the only thing you should be doing is driving the car." He was opposed to listening to the radio, eating, drinking, smoking, and having prolonged, animated conversations and arguments with passengers whilst driving. Monkish motoring, a disciplined focus on the act of driving, might not be such a bad idea. 

The first car wreck I was ever in, that could have ended my life at 18 years old, was due to my messing with an 8-track music cartridge on a rain-soaked road. I took my eyes off the road to interact with the music system and the next thing I knew, my friend's car, that I had borrowed to go on a first date, was wrapped around a telephone pole.

Multitasking is the Anti Zen of the computerized lifestyle.

Having abandoned the meditative concept of single-pointed attention to doing one thing well, then moving on to focus intensely on the next task -- we now do multiple things simultaneously, poorly, distractedly, and think we have improved our productivity. But multitasking, in many cases, is simply mediocrity on steroids.

We must face the serious question: Why do we think we MUST "be connected" 24 hours a day, no matter where we are or what we are doing? Has the machine world enslaved us to total submission and irreversible addiction?

First, the machines served humanity and took over the toilsome burdens of repetitious tasks, so we could have more free time and leisure.

Now, humanity is serving the machines and engaged in tedious tasks (checking email, posting status updates, uploading photos, etc.), so we have no free time or leisure. Nature waves goodbye to us as we dissolve into the tyrannical cogs of the ubiquitous machine.

The best solution to distracted driving, in my opinion, is to install technology in all cars that requires cell phones and other mobile computers to be turned off while the motor is running. If the car detects that a cell phone is on, it will not allow the motor to run. If you have an emergency and need to use your cell phone, pull over to a safe spot, turn the engine off, and interact with your mobile device as necessary.

The telecommunications industry is against this cell phone blocking technology, as it will decrease phone usage and their revenues will suffer. I guess they don't mind the increasing number of texting-related car accident deaths. They may be more concerned with ramping up your consumption of data plans.

Will your cell phone be your grim reaper, your fast track to the cemetery? Let's hope not.

http://allthingsd.com/20130617/until-the-self-driving-car-for-all-what-is-tech-doing-now-to-drive-us-to-non-distraction/

http://news.discovery.com/autos/cell-phones-driving-texting.htm

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2009/04/device-would-block-drivers-cell-phone.html

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

http://www.focusdriven.org/

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1077666_new-tech-blocks-drivers-cell-phone-calls-not-passengers

About the Author

Steven Streight is a man of many skills. He’s a talented writer, web content developer, internet marketing consultant and photographer. He’s a trustee on the Peoria Historical Society, a member of SCORE Peoria and the author of the Peoria technology history book, “Bicycle Fever.” In his downtime, he’s hangs out with his beloved Min Pin and tries to get some rest. Considering how involved he is in the community, it sounds like he could use as much as he can get.