A Worthy New Year’s Resolution: Put the Phone Down
December 30, 2014
The best New Year’s Resolution we’ve heard this year comes from a teen driver in Texas: A resolution to put the phone down and be more present.
People get tunnel vision when it comes their phones. Rather than enjoying a concert, a party, or time with friends and family, their concentration is directed towards the glowing screens of their cell phones. They miss important conversations, epic performances, and experiences they will never be able to get back. That’s why this New Year’s Resolution is so beautiful. Without a constant connection to the phone, this college freshman will be able to truly enjoy every minute of 2015.
Another reason we love this New Year’s Resolution: there will be at least one safe driver on the road this year. There will be at least one person driving that isn’t checking their cell phone for missed calls, text messages, facebook updates or Snapchat posts. Rather than looking down at her phone, this driver will have her eyes on the road. If only the rest of the drivers out there were so enlightened.
It is true that some phone calls and text messages are important – life changing, even. However, there’s no reason why these conversations can’t wait, especially if you are driving a vehicle. So let’s all take a lesson from this savvy Texas girl and put the phone down… if only in the car.
Blame Evolution for Texting While Driving
November 7, 2014
Everyone admits we have a problem with texting while driving. Lawmakers admit it, passing no-texting legislation across the nation. Parents and teenagers alike admit to texting while driving, despite all its dangers. Even cell phone companies admit it. Cell phone companies.
So why do we continue to do it? Even those of us that know it’s dangerous will instinctively check our phone at the slightest buzz. Even those of us that live in cities that have banned texting while driving can’t resist the ping of a new message. Is it an addiction? Paul Watters, head of motoring policy for the AA [a motoring organization in the U.K.], seems to think so:
“What we find in our research is that there’s an addiction here, to texting and using smartphones, it’s an addiction that is very hard to break even when in the car.”
However, texting while driving may be more than just an addiction. In fact, it could be the result of billions of years of evolution.
Think about it. You’re walking through the woods at the dawn of man. Suddenly, you hear a stick break behind you. Is it a saber-tooth tiger? Is it a deer? Or could it be another human… possibly a fertile mate with a high-class hut and dinner on the campfire? If you don’t look, then you’ll never know. Your evolutionary ancestors were able to eat, reproduce and survive because they looked when they heard a stick crack in the woods.
Today, the sound of a text message is our stick cracking in the woods. What could that sound be? A party? A date? A job opportunity? Mom telling you that dinner is ready? The biological urges that drove us to turn our heads in the woods billions of years ago are the same urges that drive us into distracting driving in 2014.
So where does that leave us? If the cause of texting while driving is an unconcious, biological result of billions of years of evolutionary influence, then what can we do about it? The solution is simple: Evolve.
In a world where everyone is constantly connected by their cell phones, modern man has to evolve into a species that doesn’t turn its head willy-nilly. A stick breaking in the woods or a cell phone beeping with a text are meaningless when your survival depends on driving a vehicle at 55 mph.
Distracted Driver Survival: Overwhelming Odds of Texting While Driving
June 25, 2014
Chances are, you will ride past many distracted drivers today. In fact, the laws of probability just about guarantee it.
We have some stunning numbers to share with you. Numbers that will shed light on the whole texting-while-driving issue:
- 82% of drivers 16 to 24 said they have texted while driving
- 85% of young adults who text while driving agree that texting is a problem
- 77% of young adult drivers are somewhat to very confident they can safely text while driving
With statistics like these, motorcyclists better be ready. Know that the odds are against you, and that you have very little chance of riding anywhere without encountering someone texting while driving.
Motorcycle Awareness for the Clueless – Lesson 7
May 14, 2014
Lesson 7: Don’t Text and Drive
For motorcyclists, there are few things more hated than TWIT’s (people who Text While In Traffic). This common distraction causes lane drifting, late braking, erratic navigation and all the other usual hazards of driving while distracted, most notably, traffic collisions. So, toss that phone in the back seat while you’re on the road and keep your eyes and mind on the task at hand: driving.
A Powerful Message
May 6, 2014
This image from Bikers Against Texting says it all. Throw that phone in the back seat and drive safely this summer, because nothing is more important than a saved life.
The Price of that Text
April 28, 2014
It would seem that drivers have a serious texting addiction these days. The public outcry for safety has gone unnoticed by most text-obsessed drivers. They pass by anti-texting billboards and highway signs completely unaware because their eyes are glued to the glowing screens of their cell phones. Normally, I just try to get around these reckless drivers as quickly and safely as possible, but when one almost hits my car I will honk at them… only to be ignored because my fear of collision is less urgent than their social life.
Well, if drivers aren’t worried about their safety, or the safety of people around them, maybe they will take notice when slapped with a hefty traffic ticket. That would certainly make it harder to pay their cell phone bill. This is exactly what many states are hoping for, with all but 4 states joining the fight against texting while driving by charging offenders with penalties. Fines range from $20 (in California) to $10,000 (in Alaska), with an average of about $100.
A state-by-state map of texting while driving penalties can be found here.
How to Stop Texting While Driving? There’s an App for That.
April 8, 2014
Whether you want to control your own bad habit, or you want to ensure that your teen driver isn’t texting behind the wheel, there’s an app for that. In fact, there’s a few.
TXTShield is a password-protected app that shuts down a phone’s ability to text while the car is in motion. The minimum speed that shuts down the app can be set from 10 mph to 40 mph. When texting shuts down, incoming texts do not show up on the home screen and the app automatically sends a response to the person who texted, letting them know that they are driving and will respond later.
Text Limit is another option. This app shuts down the ability to text, call (except 911) and use the internet when the car reaches 30 mph to 60 mph, depending on what the parent or administrator sets as the minimum speed. It also allows control through a website, and sends location updates to the parent/administrator every 5 minutes.
War on Distracted Driving
April 7, 2014
Distracted driving is now such a problem that the Department of Transportation is launching an advertising campaign coupled with law enforcement crackdown to combat the nation wide epidemic.
Radio, TV, and internet ads will run through next week and police across the country will be on the look out for distracted drivers.
The ads will be straightforward, depicting the consequences of driving distracted. The theme is “U drive. U text. U pay”, and internet promoters will be using the hashtag #justdrive. The aim is to get drivers, especially teens, to take a pledge to refrain from texting and driving, as well as give them tools to help raise awareness.
Texting while driving is now illegal in 43 states, and 12 states have banned the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.
TWIT Spotting
April 2, 2014
If you like to text when you drive, then you might just end up on a TWIT (Texting While In Traffic) billboard. Passengers and pedestrians have been snapping photos of people texting for twitspotting.com, a website designed to let texting drivers know that they are being watched, and judged.
The TWIT project was created by San francisco graphic designer Brian Singer. According to Singer’s unofficial estimation, “For every nose picker, there’s 20 texters”. And so, the website was born, and the images started flooding in. Some of the photos have been posted on billboards throughout the San Francisco area.
UDrive. UText. UPay.
March 31, 2014
Beginning April 1st, Distracted Driver Awareness Month kicks off and police will be on the look out for distracted drivers, especially those texting while driving. See the full story here: