iPhone 4S Release Date: Siri to Change Texting Driving Laws?
When Apple introduced its new iPhone 4S in October, tech analysts raved about the phone’s voice-activated personal assistant Siri, which, among other things, can send text messages and dictate e-mails by simple voice commands.
However, some research analysts have argued that the mobile voice-activation technology could change the way state lawmakers address no-texting-while-driving laws.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 34 states have banned texting while driving.
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While no state has outlawed all phone use in the car for adults, California, Georgia and Massachusetts, among others, have done so for under-18 drivers.
Surveys have shown that even in states where typing out texts while driving is banned, 45 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds admit to doing it anyway.
A 2010 study from the Highway Loss Data Institute, a safety research organization, found that in four states with texting-while-driving bans, the crash rates actually increased. Researchers there speculated that drivers were hiding their phones in their laps to avoid ticketing.
“We need laws that mandate safe technology solutions, not laws that are going to be simply ignored by people,” Dave Grannan, CEO of Vlingo, a competing voice-activation app. “You can’t change people’s behavior.”
Research on texting using voice-recognition technology is in the beginning stages, and not far enough along to offer policymakers much advice.
“We don’t have very satisfying answers,” said Russ Rader, vice president of communications for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “There’s a lot we don’t know about distraction and how (voice-controlled) systems are affecting the driving task. Intuitively, you would think that they’d help because they are aimed at helping drivers at least keeping their eyes on the road, if not their minds.”
“We’re really where we were with drunk driving 25 years ago,” said Jonathan Adkins, communications director for the Governors Highway Safety Association, an advocacy group for improving traffic safety. “We know there’s a problem (with distracted driving), but we don’t have a clear sense as to the scope of the problem or exactly what will work to reduce it.”
