Death By Distraction - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries,  May, 2000  by Gerry Kobe

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Green notes that many vehicles on the road today already have the wheel speed sensors, yaw sensors and steering-wheel-angle sensors needed to do this. It would only require a software solution to put the system in place.

As good as the driver's advocate sounds, Goodman says there is a danger in making systems "too easy." NHTSA is now debating whether or not the systems will get so simplified that it will change the behavior of drivers. The fear is that the frequency and duration of electronics use will increase and people that normally would not consider it will then be doing it.

"That is a great concern to us," says Goodman. "We are looking at the balance between ease of use and the consequence of increased usage of these systems. There is still a question of is it safe -- or is it just safer?. And we don't even know if it is safer."

Curiously, most U.S. states have either never introduced or have defeated proposed legislation on the safety of cell phones in cars, so it is not likely laws tackling the telematics issue will be forthcoming. Personal responsibility or corporate edict will dictate behavior, although the latter is becoming an issue in many large companies. It is often corporate policy to forbid employees to conduct business while driving, in an effort to protect against litigation.

In the end, the question of how to proceed on the telematics boom comes down to this unsolvable equation: common sense versus profits. Our common sense tells us what we should do, but common sense doesn't necessarily make sense when dealing with economics, politics and liability. We know without question that adding any kind of distraction for the driver is going to result in increased crashes. But society is going to have to deal with how many crashes it will tolerate, and to do that it needs to document how many crashes are actually occurring. Right now, and probably for years to come, we don't have those answers.

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Global Laws Governing Cell Phone Use In Vehicles

Australia     Victoria and New South Wales ban
              hand-held phones while driving
Austria       Law banning hand-held cell phone
              use while driving
Belgium       In process of passing law against
              cell phone use
Brazil        Law banning hand-held cell phone
              use while driving
Britain       Pending legislation against cell phone use while
              driving
Canada        Study underway to support possible legislation
Chile         Pending legislation against cell phone use while
              driving
Finland       Study underway to support possible legislation
France        Cell phone use discouraged under existing legislation
Germany       Pending legislation to allow hands free phones only
Israel        Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Italy         Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Japan         Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Netherlands   Pending legislation to allow hands free phones only
Norway        Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Portugal      Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Singapore     Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Spain         Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
Sweden        Cell phone use discouraged under existing legislation
Switzerland   Reduced insurance payouts if accident caused by
              driver using cell phone/legislation against cell
              phone use while driving
Taiwan        Law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving
USA           Study underway to support possible legislation