Personal Injury Law

Devices Help Drivers Put Down the Phone

By Hurley, McKenna & Murtz

New technology called ZoomSafer is a free service that uses a phone?s GPS sensors to determine whether the user is at driving speeds, and then disables the cellphone from making or receiving phone calls until the car is stopped (New York Times, 11/22, Grobart). Drivers can override this command, but doing so generates an e-mail to the account administrator alerting them of the override command. Of course, turning a cellphone off while driving is another solution to this problem, but most Americans will forget to turn off their phone or don?t have the discipline to do so as we are addicted to being in constant contact with the world.

In fact, not all consumers are comfortable with the idea of a service automatically disabling their phone, and some would rather continue to use cell phones with hands free devices. Ford and Microsoft, for example, ? are selling systems that rely on voice commands to dial phones.? These devices are more popular with consumers, but the auto shut off technology has ?caught the eye of large auto insurers,? who are not convinced that hands free chatting is much safer and want to have less payouts for accidents.

As a personal injury lawyer, I am intrigued by the new technology. Especially for young drivers, have an automatic cell phone ?muzzling? mechanism may lead to a drastic decrease in auto accidents involving new drivers. I encourage all drivers to make sure they are being cautious will cell phone usage, whether hand free or otherwise, behind the wheel and to be sure to abide by any law regulating cell phone usage while driving.

Full post as published by Illinois Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Blog on November 29, 2009 (boomark / email).