April 16, 2008
State Legislature looks at banning cell phone use while driving
BATON ROUGE– Text-messaging and using cell phones while driving would be prohibited under a bill approved by a House committee Monday.
The Committee on Transportation Highways and Public Works voted 11-6 for House Bill 852 by Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, sending it to the House floor for debate.
Badon's bill would ban the use of text-messaging devices and hand-held cell phones by the driver of a vehicle, not all of its passengers.
Bobby Breland, a traffic safety program contractor with the state Highway Safety Commission, told the panel that in 2005, wireless devices were involved in 2,125 accidents and seven highway deaths. In 2006, there were 2,282 accidents and 10 fatalities linked to wireless communications devices.
"This bill will save lives," Badon said. He said for as little as $9 a driver can buy a device that converts a hand-held cell phone to one that is hands-free for use in a vehicle.
The bill drew the opposition of Johnny Koch of Baton Rouge, a lawyer and Baton Rouge lobbyist for Sprint/Nextel, who said that the ban would cause a shift in the way people now communicate from morning to night "in a seamless fashion" by using cell phones for personal and business calls.
He said the firm he represents is "totally committed to safe driving," but said that "it will work an incredible difficulty on you and your constituents' lives," he said. "It is going to have a tremendous impact with your farmers, your Realtors and your sales people" who are always on the go but have to stay in touch.
"The issue is driver distraction," Koch said, "and the cell phone is not that big a deal."
Rep. Jerry "Truck" Gisclair, D-Larose, pushed for passage of Badon's bill.
"This bill will eliminate a lot of accidents and save a lot of lives," he said.
Badon said the bill would still allow the driver to use a hand-held cell phone or other communications device if there is an emergency and a call was being placed to a law enforcement agency, a fire department, an ambulance company, a doctor's office, a hospital or an emergency room.
Badon said the bill would not prohibit a driver from pulling off a road to use a hand-held cell phone. Bans on driving while using hand-held phones have been adopted in five states and a ban on text-messaging has been passed in New Jersey and Washington with 16 other states looking into a possible ban, Badon said.
The bill provides for penalties ranging from $100 to $250.
Earlier, the panel killed 9-5 House Bill 407 by Rep. Ricky Hardy, D-Lafayette, that would have banned the us of cell phones by drivers of public transit vehicles, school buses and limousines, but allowed it for airport shuttles and taxis.
The bill was amended to take effect in 2009 before it was killed for a more detailed study of its effects on businesses.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/state_legislature_looks_at_ban.html
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Comments on State Legislature looks at banning cell phone use while driving »
I applaud your legislators for their political courage and their determinations in saving lives inspite of the Cellular Industry claims.
Hand Held phones are double danger, distraction and awkward maneuvering. Texting is a disaster on wheels
THE TRUE DATA FROM THE FIELD shows that
1- 43% of accidents occur when the phone rings in and drivers try to answer. (NO CONVERSTATION YET).
2- 23% of accidents occur when a driver tries to dial a number or worst yet, texting. (NO CONVERSATION YET).
3- The remainder caused by multiple reasons including conversation.
This data was confirmed more then once by studies in Japan and referenced by many U.S. scientists as well as NHTSA. (See http://www-
nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-13/ driver-distraction/Topics013010816.htm#A816 .)
1. Hand held devices require the driver to look away, move or reach in order use them.
2. Hand held require the driver to maintain an uncomfortable position or move to support their arms using the parts of the car, whether it is
leaning on the window or an armrest. This movement changes the driver’s viewing ability on the road by:
a- Increasing the side/rear blind spot from the cell phone side (Cell phone companies recommend that the phone be held parallel to the
ground for better reception, thus it becomes obtrusive on the side /peripheral vision field
b- Nullifying adjustments made to the rear and side view mirrors, increasing driver disconnect from the traffic.
c- Changes the forward looking perspective of the driver and creates a front blind spot
3. Holding the phone in one hand while attempting to steer with the other hand creates a conflict in the "motor feed back" of both arms,
resulting in:
a- Poor communication with other drivers (no turn signals)
b- No steering control as cell phone users find it necessary to respond to a physical need, e.g. scratching or even taking a puff from
cigarette, while talking on the phone. Our observation shows that the steering wheel is always left unattended while the phone stays held
against the ear, (Hands Free Steering).
c- The Hesitation / Delay in responding to emergencies with correct maneuver since the driver has to decide weather to stop a conversation
and steer with both hands or to try to make it with one hand steering.
d- No activation of essential equipment in a timely manner (horn, lights, windshield wipers)
The legislative bodies can do their job and ban things, but then we will need cost to enforce. We need is to stay connected and safely. This
is where innovative thinking can come in to solve the problem by re-engineering our life behind the wheel while including teenagers as well
as elderly into the solution.
This Re-engineering should create order in the vehicle and give priority to driving tasks over other activities, but still enable other
activities while helping keep/or even assuring Eyes on the Road and Hands on the Wheel. Such engineering should be based on real world data.
We have developed, proved and globally patented a system that balances the entire driving experience with emphasis on safety, but still
allowing drivers to use communication technologies while driving. Our system has the following key features:
1- Hands are monitored to be on the steering wheel, this enables configuration to enable or disable devices when hands status is not
compliant with safety.
2- The driver controls all accessories, including cell phones from “thumb gesture” on the steering wheel. (Yes, texting is possible if the
laws allow it)
3- Incoming communications are silenced when Drivers are passing, merging, changing lanes, turn signal engaged, etc, (So as not to surprise
the driver).
4- Any information, whether from a caller ID or navigation direction is given verbally to the driver, so there's no need to look at a screen.
5- System is calibrated to driver’s skills and experience so a teen aged driver is given certain allowances and elderly drivers are provided
more assistant.
6- System is geographically aware based on Navigation data of curves, lights, stop signs and other legal boundaries and can warn driver’s to
slow down or modify behavior when distracted
7- The system can fits into a cell phone, and connects to the car network “CAN” physically or wirelessly and communicates with the steering
thumb sensor in the same manner.
8- The system also detects signs of DUI from the driver handling the steering wheel, heart, sweat, temp, gripping strength and steering
corrections, and then reports the driver to police, activate the emergency lights and limit speed of the vehicle.
We need to stay connected to stay competitive, but we need to do it safely. What we need is to educate our legislative bodies to require a
device like ours on every vehicle. Automotive and Telecom companies have been toying with speech recognitions for over two decades now, but
the automotive environment is too harsh to allow a desktop environment to succeed.
88% of people that see our demo say they’ll buy such a device while 87% think of it as the safest thing as compared to what’s out there.
Please contact us on http://www.actplace.net .
Thank you: Mouhamad A. Naboulsi, president
Applied Computer Technologies, Michigan - USA