Stop Texting?! Srsly? WTF!
It’s the one Safe Happens spot CPB Group never made: a shiny, new Jetta cruises down the road. It’s a quiet drive until interrupted by a familiar beep; the driver fidgets through his pocket, returning with cell phone in hand.
He begins clicking out his response to the received text; the camera focuses along with his eyes–on the cell phone screen–but, unlike his gaze, the camera returns to the road just in time for us to see the oncoming collision. WHAM!
Just like those original spots, this one isn’t far from reality.
A Senate hearing at the end of October declared,
“Using a mobile phone while driving was said to be more dangerous than drunk driving, the cause of 16 percent of fatal accidents in the United States and a ‘perfect storm’ of distraction.”
Holy Shi!, indeed. This is obviously a problem. What are some of their solutions? Anti-texting campaigns, legislation for fines, and this high tech proposal by West Virginia Senator, Jay Rockefeller: introduce blocking hardware to cars, “as soon as you enter a car your mobile phone and texting equipment is just disabled by some electronic pulse.”
Okay, first off, texting equipment? Moving on. Senator Rockefeller’s idea is the kind of thinking which shows complete disregard for understanding our generation. Rather than working with us, he immediately seeks an idea that works against us.
I agree that texting while driving is a serious problem, but banning our communication while driving isn’t the solution. All that does is invite the clever ones among us to find ways around your hardware, allowing us to text anyway. Besides, if you’re willing to spend the kind of money necessary to block texting in cars, why not invest in technology that facilitates its use more safely?
It wouldn’t be too hard. We already have hands-free phones: bluetooth technology allows us to talk to people on our car speakers. All you would need to do is allow voice options, much like a GPS has, to read our received text aloud and then allow us to dictate a text response back to the sender. As long as we could safely send and receive a text message in the car, it doesn’t matter if we’re reading/typing it.
That’s an idea that works with us. It provides a solution without acting like a tyrant. In fact, the first car company to propose this as their solution is likely to gain a lot of points from us. They could be the alternative to the extreme “It’s evil, kill it!” mentality–a mentality which we respond to with a big, “STFU.”
Do you text and drive? Stop! And while you’re stopping, can you think of any solutions to the texting problem? Share your voice!
Image: fd13 Responses
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by edwardboches: Texting and driving? A challenge for a solution other than the obvious banning (which won’t work) http://bit.ly/65xFcq via @dylna…
Hey Dylan – great post and some excellent points!
Much like the rest of our generation, I’m guilty of the oh-so-famous-and-risky texting and driving. Damn you BlackBerry and your excellent communication tools (bbm), you win again.
Talking about the Senator working against our generation – bang on. Tell someone our age that we aren’t allowed to do something, and inevitably we’ll find a way around it. There’s definitely some voice operated applications coming out for BB, which only leads me to assume that iPhone already has a great one out there. The downside is that the really great ones cost money, and in my opinion, people on BlackBerrys aren’t yet at the point of paying for applications and therefore are limited to the lesser, free applications.
I 100% agree with the fines going in place in a lot of major cities, but at some level, the government needs to be involved in finding a replacement for us.
Cheers Dylan,
Bobby Hennessey
@bobbyhennessey
Y’know, I think texting might be the thing that I hate the most about our generation. I’m not a Luddite, and I understand the technology, and I’m not advocating artificial ways of stopping texting, but I do want to smack anyone I see texting while driving. Personally, I turn off my phone while driving. I drive a lot, and this practice hasn’t killed me (whereas the opposite practice, could very well kill me).
Voice-texting is a reasonable solution, but I can’t help but thinking: “Isn’t that just basically talking on a handsfree phone but less convenient?”
Dylan – your post makes excellent points, and I agree with you on how to look at the solution, but I can’t help but think that the real question we need to be asking is, “Why the hell are we so addicted to texting?”
Adam–While it’s not hard to agree with you and Dylan that texting and driving is bad. I have to say that I’m all for texting in general. I think it’s very useful in that it lowers the barrier for casual communication. Calling someone throughout the day for little things gets annoying fast. Whereas with texting we can pull out our phone and respond without leaving the room or breaking off from a conversation. And, since it doesn’t have to be real time, it opens up both who you can communicate with and when. Granted like anything it can sometimes seem a little excessive; but when I was in Jr. High I talked on the phone for hours! So in some ways it’s also just more of the same.
Adam, I’d like to posit our gen’s obsession stems from the instant gratification involved with texting. You send one, you receive one promptly back. There’s also an element of secrecy, because, as opposed to an audible conversation, you are the only one reading the text. BBM upped the ante by allowing its users to confirm when a text has been read by the other person–allowing an even more detailed form of gratification, and something which has proven hugely successful for them as a company.
Jason, on the topic of general texting, I personally don’t text that often. I just don’t pay for a robust plan like most people. I find it’s pretty inefficient as a form of communication, and, a lot of the time, the same answer can be found more quickly in a phone call. Times where I do find texting useful are when it’s too loud to hear someone on the phone or when someone needs an address they can reference repeatedly without calling more than once. I agree that for many people texting has made the trade for hours of phone convo, so in that way, it’s more efficient for them. To each his phone.
Adam, you’re probably right about the addiction thing, it certainly seems out of control with some people. And, just think how many in the next generation will have carpel tunnel by 17 if we’re giving them all blackberrys at 12? I’m not worried tho. In addition to quick bits of info, personally I like texting for short conversations too–but eventually it’s certainly worth pressing send. Especially when you’re in the car. But, maybe we text there too because it fits so naturally into most other situations in our lives we think: why not here? The big contradiction here of course is that if anything can wait, it’s definitely a text.
Dylan, well pun.
I’ve always wondered if cell-phone technology will one day develop a way to make it impossible to text while you’re driving. I’ve thought of the idea of setting your text messaging to “Car Mode” and if you happened to receive a text while driving, your phone would send an automated text saying “I’m currently driving and can’t text right now”, and not alert you until you’ve turned off “Car Mode”. It would still require the power of the individual to choose not to text, but it’s better than having no option at all.
Check out this article the NY Times ran back in July about truck drivers texting, and I recommend you try play the interactive “texting while driving” game. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/technology/28texting.html
I love texting. I frequently text when I’m the passenger of a car, so I’d be seriously PO’ed if they ever develop some car technology that prohibits that. However, I get terrified whenever I’m riding in a car and the driver whips out his/her phone to text. It’s not safe and it’s ridiculous that someone can’t wait ten minutes to answer a text. If it’s that important, pull over. And if it’s REALLY that important, you’d probably be calling instead of texting anyway.
@Jason & @Dylan – Don’t get me wrong, I get when texting can be useful, and as I said, I text myself. But what I don’t get is the “addiction.” Maybe it’s an intra-generational gap (I may have just coined that phrase…). I text while at work, or when I have a quick note to send. What I can’t figure out is people who have entire conversations with their phone when they could easily be having the same conversation far more conveniently by just dialing the person they’re talking to’s number…
Take a serious competition driving course where you learn the realities of vehicle dynamics, weight transfer, braking distances, early and late apex approaches to cornering, controlling a slide with opposite lock, etc., and you will never again text—or even talk—on a handheld device while driving. The reason being that you will now realize how absolutely clueless and utterly lacking any skills the other drivers are while they’re pretending to control 4,500 lb. hunks of steel flying down the road at 60, 70, or 80 mph, only feet away from your vital organs. While they’re on their cellphones.
Basically, if you text or phone when you drive, you become a candidate for the Darwin Awards.
Much like the “no talking and driving” laws, there’s actually a “no texting while driving” law in place in New York now. I will be the first to admit that when I was in school in Boston, it would make me incredibly nervous to be in the car with people using their cellphone while driving, even if it was legal. I got stopped and ticketed for it a few years ago, and since then, I always use a speakerphone or a hands-free set.
Texting and driving, though? Totally do it all the time. I’ve heard of studies that show it’s as or more dangerous than driving drunk…which is scary. I get nervous when other people do it, yet I definitely still do it myself — though I’ve cut back since I got a Blackberry, mainly because I find it next to impossible to use that keyboard while driving. I consciously try to not text unless I’m stopped at a stoplight (partially because I don’t want another ticket — it was expensive!)
I don’t know why it took so long to get a texting and driving law into place, considering it’s obviously more dangerous than talking and driving (have to be looking at the screen, using your hands to type vs. holding phone to ear, don’t have to be looking at the phone to talk). And I don’t know why it’s so hard for our generation to ignore a text message, even when responding could be dangerous. I do know, however, that I’m one of those people — for some reason, I simply feel the need to respond to a text as quickly as I can. That’s probably a pretty sad statement…
I also have to add that it absolutely aggravates me when friends text when it would be far easier to just pick up the phone and call. If one party is at work or in a no talking situation, fine. But when I’m trying to figure out plans for a Saturday night and having an entire conversation via text — not ok.
Hey Dylan – great post and some excellent points!
Much like the rest of our generation, I'm guilty of the oh-so-famous-and-risky texting and driving. Damn you BlackBerry and your excellent communication tools (bbm), you win again.
Talking about the Senator working against our generation – bang on. Tell someone our age that we aren't allowed to do something, and inevitably we'll find a way around it. There's definitely some voice operated applications coming out for BB, which only leads me to assume that iPhone already has a great one out there. The downside is that the really great ones cost money, and in my opinion, people on BlackBerrys aren't yet at the point of paying for applications and therefore are limited to the lesser, free applications.
I 100% agree with the fines going in place in a lot of major cities, but at some level, the government needs to be involved in finding a replacement for us.
Cheers Dylan,
Bobby Hennessey
@bobbyhennessey