No elegant tech fixes for distracted driving

By Peter Svensson

AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK

When does a smartphone make you dumb?

When you’re driving.

Dialing or texting on a phone is a proven distraction when you’re behind the wheel. And as “smart” as today’s phones are, they can’t compensate for human folly. Phone makers and software developers are making a valiant effort to create elegant technical solutions, but, try as they might, they’ve yet to solve the problem of distracted driving.

A new survey, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, exposes how severe the problem is — especially among young drivers. In the survey, about 58 percent of high school seniors said they had texted or emailed while driving in the previous month. About 43 percent of high school juniors said they did, too.

Thirty-nine states ban texting behind the wheel for all age groups, and an additional five states outlaw it for novice teen drivers. Even so, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said distracted driving is “a national epidemic.”

The industry doesn’t have a surefire cure. There’s a bevy of phone applications (or apps) that silence a phone when they detect that the device is moving at car speed. Although they carry names such as “SecuraFone” these solutions all have limitations.

One big shortcoming is that they can’t tell drivers from passengers. Most of the apps assume any phone that’s traveling at more than 10 miles per hour belongs to a driver. Of course, that phone might belong to someone in the back seat, or on a bus or train. That means these apps come with easy override buttons — which could also be used by a driver. The app isn’t “smart” enough to know the difference.

ZoomSafer and CellControl are two companies that offer slightly more sophisticated solutions: apps that make sure you’re in your car before putting the phone in “driver mode.” The phone listens for a wireless signal, from the car’s built-in electronic system or from a proprietary device that plugs into the engine-diagnostics port. The phone is wirelessly linked to the car, so people who don’t usually drive the vehicle can ride as passengers without having their phones go silent.