Cunning Gizmo To Block Your Phone

This via Tom Vanderbilt’s ‘How We Drive’ blog (think of it as the blog of the book):

Coming soon - a mobile phone blocking key for your car. It’s paired to your phone, and when the key’s in the ignition, it blocks all incoming and outgoing calls & SMS text messages. Anyone calling you get’s an “I’m driving; I’ll call you back” message. Because it’s paired to your phone, it doesn’t affect those of passengers in the car.

There are two weaknesses in the system though. Firstly, it panders to people’s sense of self importance - it allows “emergency” calls to come through, so you can “safely pull over and answer the phone”. I wonder what would constitute an “emergency”? If you’re a member of the lifeboat crew? If you’re a doctor on call? If you’re late for dinner & your wife wants to know where you are? If you’re friend’s just broken up with her boyfriend and wants to tell you what a pig he was?

Secondly, as some US states’ laws treat younger drivers on the phone differently to older ones, it has two modes. If you’re under 18, it blocks all calls - even those for a hands-free device. If you’re over 18, then you’re good to go on hands free. ‘Cos as we all know, driving’s a physical rather than mental exercise, so it’s the holding the phone that causes the distraction, not the act of participating in a remote conversation.

Or is that the other way ’round?

Whatever. Anyway, here’s the promotional video from the Key2SafeDriving’s technology demonstration site:

OK, so I’m sorry for making you watch that. The kids in the car seemed to be auditioning for parts in an early Tarantino film (either that or in some sort of college cabaret parody of an early Tarantino film), while mum & dad are obviously fresh from an eighteen week run on Price Drop TV.

What do you think - should be mandatory gizmo / good optional gizmo / badly flawed implementation / terrible video / or what?

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 12/22/2008
  • Total Time: 1:13:00.00
  • Calories: 951
  • Distance: 18.4 miles
  • Average Speed: 15.12 mph

Filed under: 'A'-List Blogs, Assassination Attempts, Cycle, Industrial-Strength Sarcasm, News, Road Safety, Technology, Video

8 Responses to “ Cunning Gizmo To Block Your Phone ”

  1. John the Monkey on December 23, 2008 at 9:49 am

    At heart, it’s a technical solution to a larger problem, that being that people simply don’t see driving their cars as a dangerous activity. (The British road safety group BRAKE points out that for most people, it will be the most dangerous thing they do in the course of their day).

    Here in the UK, the government has had a bash at addressing the problem of attitude;

    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=72gRlWXgD0o (”Think! Mobile Phone Public Information Film, 2007)

    Anecdotally, this, and exceeding the speed limit are probably the traffic laws I see broken most on a day to day basis.

  2. John the Monkey on December 23, 2008 at 9:53 am

    This PIF (not sure where it’s from) says the same thing in a slightly less shocking way (and gets in the statistic about how much more likely a crash is;)

    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gIJ2VQAbTic

    This Australian one is good too, although they make the mistake of recommending a hand free as a “safe” alternative;

    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1luIDQSJ-Ao

  3. 2whls3spds on December 23, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    Yup…that is going to work. People in the US will claim it is an infringement on their personal freedoms and “right” to drive. You also have people with multiple phones. Unfortunately you cannot legislate morality or personal responsibility…they have tried. It must be taught, preferably by the parents, or other family members.

    Aaron

  4. efranlje on December 23, 2008 at 4:32 pm

    I think it’s a neat little device. Problem is the only people likely to use it are the ones who already don’t use their phones in the car.

    And Karl - if you knew MY wife, you’d know that being late to dinner was indeed a pull-out-all-the-stops emergency. :)

  5. Brad Hefta-Gaub on December 23, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    Very interesting. I think it’s prefect for parents to buy for their kids…

  6. shebaduhkitty on December 23, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    totally a parents to buy for the kids thing. I can’t imagine many husbands being too cheery if their wife bought that for them… My students could have done better acting than that!

  7. Andy in Germany on December 23, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    The German road transport authority has just said that using a mobile reduces your driving ability to the level of a drunk driver, and you’ll be jumped on very hard of they catch you at it, or if you were using a phine and get into an accident.
    Most of the (rare) near-misses I have with cars in Germany, the driver seems to be talking on the phone.

    Totally off topic question: How close do you live to Heaton?

  8. Karl On Sea on December 24, 2008 at 9:14 am

    Answering the off-topic question - yep, Heaton’s about 6-7 miles away. Feel free to point your buddy in my direction.