# Smartphones causing traffic fatalities



## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

The US is seeing an increase in traffic fatalities (drivers, cyclists, pedestrians) and this article makes the case that it's due to distracted driving with smart phones:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-are-killing-americans-but-nobody-s-counting

Previously, the OPP said that distracted driving is the number one killer on the roads:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/distracted-driving-laws-across-canada-1.2576880

Does anyone know of a source for Canadian traffic fatality stats? I'm wondering if the same increase is being seen across Canada. The figure has to include pedestrians and cyclists as well.


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

It's the modern equivalent of drunk driving... but lacking the stigma of the former, it's far more widespread. At least drunks are looking where they're going. 

Hands-free technology was supposed to solve some of the problem, but research has shown that you're still distracted when talking to your device. Even having a chatty person next to you in the car can be a distraction, of course.


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## Ollyward (Oct 18, 2017)

so, how do we go about it? just the driver in the car, off phones and no radio? :grey:


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I don't think we'll crack this problem until self-driving cars take over.


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## zylon (Oct 27, 2010)

*public flogging and humiliation.*










http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Online_shaming


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

Ollyward said:


> so, how do we go about it? just the driver in the car, off phones and no radio? :grey:


Radio is not quite the same... it's more passive. You're listening but not trying to formulate responses, so you're only minimally distracted. Messing with the infotainment center or changing CDs while driving is another issue, though.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

andrewf said:


> I don't think we'll crack this problem *until self-driving cars take over*.


 ... as if self-driving cars are sure things and can't get into accidents.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Nope, they are just going to be better (safer) than human drivers.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

I only know that ICBC in BC advertises the same thing.... more fatalities, etc. than drunk driving. Haven't pursued the stats. Distracted driving is indeed a menace and see it every day that I am out and about on the streets. It isn't going away until laws are changed to impound vehicles 'on the spot' for perhaps 7 days at a time and/or similar suspension for driver's ilcenses. Fines don't work, as for many people, it is simply chalked up to 'cost of business' or 'cost of convenience'. Drastic measures better level the playing field amongst the classes.

I've occasionally honked the horn and given the finger to those on cell phones beside me but that is taking risk. Calliing 911 is an acceptable method but the chances of a patrol car then catching the person is very small. What needs to happen at the very least is an automatic search of cell phone records when there is an accident such that 'times' can be aligned (or not). The downside of course is that it may be a passenger using the phone, not the driver. Somehow, we need to find a way of making distracted driving socially unacceptable much as we have for DUI/DWI.


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## verticalguy (Nov 3, 2017)

Ironically the companies which working hardest on the solution - autonomous cars - are running some of the most popular distractionistic sites. Google and Apple to the rescue.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

verticalguy said:


> Ironically the companies which working hardest on the solution - autonomous cars - are running some of the most popular distractionistic sites. Google and Apple to the rescue.


I think the problem could* get worse before it gets better due to dramatic transition that is taking place. I remember reading something years ago about the very high (percentage wise) accidents in the early years in the transition from horse and buggy to motorized buggys.

* One might argue that 'newish' lane departure and collison avoidance technologies cause existing drivers to believe they can become even more disconnected and distracted from the road.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

The long term trend is towards fewer traffic fatalities in Canada. https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/tp-tp3322-2015-1487.html


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Interesting data but does not say what it could have been, i.e. even lower, without distracted driving incidents. ICBC, the BC provincial auto insurer, says their data tells them distracted driving is now ahead of DUI/DWI in fatalities.

Added: Canadian statistics at bottom of page https://www.caa.ca/distracted-driving/

US distracted driver accidents http://distracteddriveraccidents.com/25-shocking-distracted-driving-statistics/


> Of these, 1.6 million have a cell phone involved in them. That’s 64% of all the road accidents in the United States. Over half the road accidents in the States have cell phones involved, and if this doesn’t make you realize just how potent it is, what will?


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

I believe he accident rate is up as well, but advances in safety has allowed fatalities to decrease.

Correction: way up http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/car-crashes-bc-statistics-1.4234461


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

AltaRed said:


> Interesting data but does not say what it could have been, i.e. even lower, without distracted driving incidents. ICBC, the BC provincial auto insurer, says their data tells them distracted driving is now ahead of DUI/DWI in fatalities.
> 
> Added: Canadian statistics at bottom of page https://www.caa.ca/distracted-driving/
> 
> US distracted driver accidents http://distracteddriveraccidents.com/25-shocking-distracted-driving-statistics/


You might be right but traffic fatalities per billion miles driven in the US appear to be down or flat. *If I am understanding the graph correctly) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans...dia/File:USA_annual_VMT_vs_deaths_per_VMT.png

That isn't to say that distracted driving didn't contribute to accidents. Efforts to curb obviously dangerous habits like texting & driving, holding a cellular phone to ones ear and applying makeup make sense.

I am not convinced that hands free talking, listening to the radio and chatting with a passenger are unsafe.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

I beg to differ somewhat, albeit some activities may not be distracting. 

Today's touch screens in cars are highly distracting. There is too much information being displayed and too many screens and options to have to look at. I know since we have such electronics in both our vehicles and it is distracting when they need to be operated. Even making a hands free call is highly distracting since buttons need to be pushed and/or voice recognition requires some attention. If I have to make a hands free call (and that is rarely a necessity), I wait for a red light or a time with no traffic around me before i initiate such a call via voice recognition....and i consider myself a skilled driver.

As for listening to the radio, it is more likely that the driver is trying to select a channel on XM Sirius or going through the music folders on a USB thumb key on the screen to make music selections. The days of actually listening to a radio station are numbered.

IMO, most of the touch screen options should be inoperable when the vehicle is in gear, or at least in motion.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

The main reason this topic is so hard is that it is the cause of distraction that needs to be addressed. Like AR says, even music can cause distraction. Ear buds can drown out valuable audio feedback. Telcons can be just chatting or dealing with tough distracting issues. Texting is always distracting unless using a speech to text converter. The key common element is common sense. Sadly there is no common sense detector in vehicles.

When we were in France last month, our rental had an integration of the GPS so that there was an audible warning whenever we were exceeding the local speed limit. The next step might be to have cruise control automatically adjust the car speed. I think the future will be better but we probably have to get worse for a while first.


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## bass player (Jan 27, 2016)

andrewf said:


> Nope, they are just going to be better (safer) than human drivers.


Except for the times when a bad driver who hasn't "driven" for a few years suddenly has to take over in an emergency situation.


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## bass player (Jan 27, 2016)

kcowan said:


> When we were in France last month, our rental had an integration of the GPS so that there was an audible warning whenever we were exceeding the local speed limit. The next step might be to have cruise control automatically adjust the car speed. I think the future will be better but we probably have to get worse for a while first.


Many commercial vehicles already limit the speed that can be driven. I can see car rental companies doing the same thing, both to protect their investment and also for insurance purposes.

Adaptive cruise control exists in most vehicles these days...it will maintain a set distance to the vehicle in front of you. My friend has a newer Honda CRV and that feature works at any speed. Combine it with lane assist and the car basically drives itself with no human assistance even in stop and go traffic, although I believe if your hands are off the wheel it will eventually disable itself.


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## s1231 (Jan 1, 2017)

Time off from the screens------less destruction, better focus & performance, healthy eyes & brain, recovering our senses, thoughtful, etc. etc.



- 15 Pedestrians Oblivious To The World Outside Their Cell Phones :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTOZjXjaCaE


- Study: Smartphones are distracting us even when we aren’t looking at them:
https://qz.com/1138008/putin-signs-...l-news-outlets-as-the-work-of-foreign-agents/

Just receiving a notification distracts people and damages task performance nearly as much as actually stopping to interact with the device, according to a new paper from researchers at Florida State. And setting it on vibrate does almost nothing to lessen the distraction.

The researchers theorized that even when you’re not picking up the phone, you certainly notice it when it vibrates or pings. After receiving that trigger, you start thinking about what it might be, and planning a theoretical response, all of which takes up valuable attention, memory, and overall cognitive bandwidth.

Even when they didn’t check their phones, people who were called and texted did significantly worse on the task. They were about three times more likely to make mistakes, and were substantially more likely to respond extremely quickly, which tends to indicate that someone is distracted and responding reflexively.


- 11 Reasons to Stop Looking at Your Phone:
https://www.pcmag.com/feature/338735/11-reasons-to-stop-looking-at-your-phone


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

AltaRed said:


> I beg to differ somewhat, albeit some activities may not be distracting.
> 
> Today's touch screens in cars are highly distracting. There is too much information being displayed and too many screens and options to have to look at.


I totally agree. These modern interfaces are a disaster (and safety hazard). I don't know which genius got the idea of designing the interior of the car like it's a computer terminal with a full screen. Zero thought has been put into these things, other than giving them modern bells & whistles -- which is also futile, since they will look obsolete in 2 years anyway.

I would actually like to buy a car some time soon but am very dissatisfied with many of the interiors & controls I see.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

^I disagree with you guys about all the features on new cars. 

^My old 2006 vehicle has an FM radio, CD player and Cassette deck. 

My wife's 2016 has a backup camera, blind spot sensors, more airbags, bluetooth handsfree calling and a number of other safety features. Driving her car on fast moving highways feels a lot safer.

Smart phones are the biggest contributor to distracted driving, not cars. Modern cars have features to mitigate the risk of smart phones by providing built in hands free calling and voice recognition.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

When I was in business I would often have the cell in my right hand, my lunch in my left steering with my knees down a snowy Highway 1. But I never texted.


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

I do like the back-up cameras, etc. My main pet peeve with modern cars is the amount of buttons/touchscreens. I generally prefer knobs, switches, sliders, etc... especially for the radio and HVAC controls.

I've owned vehicles dating from the late 70's and up, and there's a clear trend toward more cluttered or confusing interfaces. My old Camaro was extremely basic, all of the controls were logical and simple. The most distracting thing was the aftermarket CD player, and even that was simple compared to the screens in today's cars.

Hands-free calling is better than holding the phone in your hand, but it would be better still to disable the phone while driving. Insurance companies are looking at devices and apps that will disable smartphones while the car is on. In exchange, the driver would get a discount on their insurance.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

I do like the option of an insurance discount in return for a disabled smartphone while the wheels are turning. That said, passengers have a right to use their phones. Not sure what the solution is.

I do like many of the new features of modern cars, provided the touch screen interface is clear and simple enough. I've seen some awful ones and some pretty good ones. I really do like the 'all around' cameras (360 bird's eye view) on the Pathfinder that allows me to park in very tight spots. I also like the sonar sensors on our Pathfinder that warns of obstructions behind and near the rear quarter panels.... and the usual trappings of heated/AC seats and heated mirrors and steering wheels. 

Both our vehicles have hands free Bluetooth and voice activated dialing which is helpful but I still find is too much of a distraction. If one really needs to talk, pull over and stop.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Whether it's a smart phone or a cell phone, it's distracted driving, which is a growing problem. The smart phone is likely worse by several degrees because it's a mini-computer that can be even more distracting than a cell phone, since it can be used for texting, email, navigating; web surfing, photographing, etc. besides actual phone conversations.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Probably a big problem is people don't take the time to thoroughly learn how to operate their vehicles.

They get the keys and get in, look around and off they go. During the first rainfall they try to figure out how to operate the windshield wipers.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

sags said:


> They get the keys and get in, look around and off they go. During the first rainfall they try to figure out how to operate the windshield wipers.


We rented a Dacia Duster in France. Using the radio required navigating on the same touchscreen that did everything else! In the sunshine, the screen was washed out. Truly a scary experience. Don't try this without a navigator!


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

Just apply the stiffest of fines and raise awareness.

Its no different than any other distraction; fiddling with radio, navigation, eating, drinking and driving....

Why aren't we finding solutions to those problems? Why is no one is calling for a breathalizer test installed in every car?

Stiffer fines will make people think twice before they pick up their phones.


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