Continue reading »]]> As reported by The Associated Press, Yahoo News, the Houston Chronicle, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and other news outlets, Texas attornies recently secured a $21 million verdict against Coca-Cola in a trucking accident case involving a distracted delivery driver.

On May 7, 2012, a Nueces County, Texas jury awarded $21 million to a woman who was hit by a Coca-Cola truck whose driver was chatting on a cell phone while at the wheel.

The jury awarded the woman $10 million in punitive damages and $11 million in actual damages for the 2010 accident that left her with severe neck and back injuries.

Two law firms collaborated to bring the cell phone distraction case to a jury, alleging that Coca Cola had a vague and ambiguous cell phone policy for its delivery drivers, according to court documents. The jury was to decide whether or not the accident was caused by a distracted Coca Cola delivery driver who was on a cell phone.

The law firms involved – Hilliard, Munoz & Gonzalez and Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys – stated that they discovered flaws in the Coca Cola management cell phone policy which allowed its employees to operate company vehicles throughout the United States while using a cell phone, according to court documents.

When asked about Coca Cola corporate governance, Bob Hilliard, a lead trial lawyer in the case said this:

“Today’s verdict I hope sends a message to corporate America that you can’t have employees on a cell phone and endanger the motoring public.”

When asked about the jury’s award, Thomas J. Henry of Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys stated:

“From the time I took the Coca Cola driver’s testimony and obtained the company’s inadequate cell phone driving policy, I knew we had a corporate giant with a huge safety problem on our hands. I also knew that taking on Coca Cola’s policy that affects hundreds of thousands of its employees would require assembling a trial team with the horse power necessary to fight and win. More importantly, I knew Mrs. Wilson deserved justice, and the rest of the motoring public deserved safer drivers; so, Bob Hilliard and I decided to put our law firm litigation teams together to shred Coca Cola’s policy.”

Bob Hilliard said:

“I knew looking into their hearts and minds, after hearing days of trial testimony, that they knew cell phone use while driving was deadly and harmful. The jury knew I gave them evidence to change Coca Cola’s policy, and I knew the jury would do justice, and they did. We now have a safer community, state, and country and now Coke gets to join, against their will, other Fortune 500 companies who volunteered to have a ‘no cell phone use while operating company vehicles’ policy.”

During the trial, Coca-Cola’s driver reportedly testified that if she had known the risks of talking on the phone while driving she would not have done it.

Coca Cola dispute the finding and may appeal.

Original sources:

http://thomasjhenrylaw.com/about-the-firm/news-and-press/thomas-j.-henry-secures-21m-verdict-against-coca-cola-in-trucking-case/

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/5/prweb9478383.htm

Continue reading »]]> This video shows an experiment carried out in Belgium, where researchers told learner drivers that texting and cellphone use was going to be part of their driving test.

See the trouble they get into and, more importantly, note some of the comments made by the drivers.

Note: there may be an issue with video/audio synchronisation on this video – if it doesn’t play properly here – this is a direct link to the YouTube video – it is worth making the effort.

Continue reading »]]> According to an article in the Telegraph Online, insurance companies are looking to punish distracted drivers who cause accidents by increasing their premiums or even refusing to provide cover at renewal time.

Insurers have been increasing premiums for drivers with minor motor offences by increasing premiums after a first speeding offence, but those caught texting, playing games, picking up emails, talking or otherwise fiddling on a hand-held mobile phone will be hit hard when it comes to renewal, and some could find cover impossible at any price.

Recent research covering major insurers shows that anyone convicted of a mobile phone offence, which can also attract just three points on your licence and a similar fine to speeding, can expect to be punished much more harshly by insurers, with premium increases of up to 60pc. Some say they will refuse to quote at any price.

Aviva’s senior motor underwriting manager Nigel Bartram said:

“We want to get the message across that mobile phone usage is absolutely not acceptable. Even though it may be treated by the law in a similar way to a speeding fine, we insurers view it very seriously.”

Insurers claim they are able to justify this approach because they now have data that accurately correlates minor motor offences with the likelihood of a claim.

LV= is among insurers to take a particularly draconian approach to any mobile phone offence, refusing to offer automatic renewal quotes in most cases – to quote a representative:.

“We view this offence very seriously. The driver is clearly distracted. He or she may be texting, playing games or picking up emails. They are a risk not just to themselves but to other road users, and we want to send a signal that this behaviour is socially unacceptable”.

Insurers say that these moves are a pro-active step to address offences for which legal punishments are light, but that they consider extremely serious. They hope this stronger line might act as a deterrent and prevent accidents.

The bottom line is that distracted driving may hit you hard in the wallet – a 20 year-old will face an average increase of 62pc from £924 to £1,495 if caught holding a mobile phone, but this could rise 124pc to £2,483 for a more serious offence earning nine points.

A 30 year-old will see his premium rise by 34pc on average for a three-point mobile phone offence, from £516 to £694. A more serious conviction attracting nine points will more than treble the premium to £1,624.

The picture is similar with 40 year-olds. A first mobile offence will see hikes on average by 26pc from £410 to £517, but with nine points it rockets to £1,310.

Read the full article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/motorinsurance/9146173/Car-insurance-costs-rise-by-up-to-20pc-for-first-time-speed-offenders.html

Continue reading »]]> A recent article on Forbes.com highlights the potential for employers to be held liable for their employee’s distracted driving habits.

the article discusses recent statements by the National Safety Council (NSC), who say that  businesses can be held liable for “large damage awards” for employees engaged in cell phone use while driving.

To quote the NSC:

“Employers are responsible for ensuring their employees adhere to applicable federal agency regulations and federal, state and municipal laws. However, what is often not understood is that simply following the applicable laws and regulations is often not sufficient to protect your business and employees from liability and large damage awards in a cell phone crash” .

Talking or texting on the phone may be getting most of the attention but the distraction, and the potential damage it can do to your business, applies equally well to computer use in company vehicles.

Read the full article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimhenry/2012/03/31/business-owners-beware-distracted-driving-can-cost-you-too/

Continue reading »]]> Undaunted by fear of safety regulations, Car makers are piling new technologies into their vehicles: everything from 17-inch dashboard screens to services that check Facebook and buy movie tickets.

With Americans increasingly glued to devices and their constant flow of information, automobile manufacturers are rolling out what they call the “connected car.” These vehicles can do everything from book a restaurant to delivering Twitter feeds — all available at 65 miles an hour or more.

There is more to come, too, with software to import iPhone and Android applications is around the corner.

Gadgetry is taking on added importance for the manufacturers, who are starting to worry that the number of teenage drivers is declining and more 20-somethings aren’t as committed to owning a car.

General Motors will shortly release an 8-inch, touch-screen display for online applications, navigation and music that can be activated through voice, touch or steering wheel controls. Ford already allows drivers to send and receive Twitter feeds and stream online music through its Sync technology. New Mercedes-Benz cars will tap into Facebook and perform Google searches. Mercedes drivers won’t be able to enter text while the car is in drive, but pre-written phrases can be selected with a click.

Customers say they love the electronics. “I like the way it looks,” said Jamie Kaye Walters, 38, a television production company executive who recently bought a 2012 Ford with the Sync system. “It’s a little bit distracting, but it kind of allows me to do work while I am driving without having to look down at my phone. I can do the whole thing with voice activation.”

Manufacturers argue that the hands-free features of these systems are as safe — or at least safer than allowing drivers to thumb through their phone contact lists to initiate a call or text a friend. They suggest that greater safety can be achieved with steering-wheel and voice controls.

“It isn’t possible to stop it,” said Michael Sprague, marketing director at Kia Motors Corp.’s North American division. “Consumers are going to continue to drive with phones and all we can do as a manufacturer is to provide what the consumers are asking for and make it as safe as possible.”

Rob Reynolds, executive director of FocusDriven, a distracted driving prevention group, said greater safety doesn’t equal safe. “The attitude that auto makers are taking is that we want to make distracted driving safer than ever,” said Mr. Reynolds, whose 16-year-old daughter was killed in an accident by a distracted driver. “They are putting a big filter on your cigarette so it will take longer to kill you.”

Data on the relative dangers of different types of cellphone use can be ambiguous. Some studies suggest that hands-free use is ‘safer’ than manual use of cellphones, while other studies show that both are equally dangerous.Most of newer car-electronics systems permit access to controls through a touch screen.

Hands-free calling “isn’t the big problem in America,” Mr. LaHood said, after a December proposal by the National Transportation Safety Board called for a complete ban on cellphone use while driving. Another group, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, is studying cognitive distraction caused by the new technologies with a report expected late this year. “When the results are out, we will know more about whether these technologies are a distraction,” Mr. LaHood said.

NHTSA’s study will assess hands-free, semi-hands free and hand-held mobile phone use and assess the risk and distraction associated with each, the administration said.

Among the coming in-car devices is a 17-inch touch screen display with Internet access and four USB ports to attach devices in the Tesla Model S electric car. Ricardo Reyes, a spokesman for the company, said the company wants to make sure that electronics in the car are cutting edge, like the vehicle itself.

“It is absolutely a selling point,” Mr. Reyes said. “People are already distracted by their phones in their car, but we can make it safer for them to do what they are already doing.”

Continue reading »]]> Proposed recommendations would encourage manufacturers to develop ‘less distracting’ in-vehicle electronic devices

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced the first-ever federally proposed guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for in-vehicle electronic devices. The proposed voluntary guidelines would apply to communications, entertainment, information gathering and navigation devices or functions that are not required to safely operate the vehicle.

Issued by the Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the guidelines would establish specific recommended criteria for electronic devices installed in vehicles (at the time of manufacture) that require visual or manual operation by drivers.

The announcement of the guidelines comes just days after President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request, which includes $330 million over six years for distracted driving programs that increase awareness of the issue and encourage stakeholders to take action.

“Distracted driving is a dangerous and deadly habit on America’s roadways – that’s why I’ve made it a priority to encourage people to stay focused behind the wheel,” said Secretary LaHood. “These guidelines are a major step forward in identifying real solutions to tackle the issue of distracted driving for drivers of all ages.”

Geared toward light vehicles (cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, minivans, and other vehicles rated at not more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight), the guidelines are the first in a series of guidance documents NHTSA plans to issue to address sources of distraction that require use of the hands and/or diversion of the eyes from the primary task of driving.

“We recognize that vehicle manufacturers want to build vehicles that include the tools and conveniences expected by today’s American drivers,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “The guidelines we’re proposing would offer real-world guidance to automakers to help them develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want—without disrupting a driver’s attention or sacrificing safety.”

The proposed Phase I distraction guidelines include recommendations to:

• Reduce complexity and task length required by the device;
• Limit device operation to one hand only (leaving the other hand to remain on the steering wheel to control the vehicle);
• Limit individual off-road glances required for device operation to no more than two seconds in duration;
• Limit unnecessary visual information in the driver’s field of view;
• Limit the amount of manual inputs required for device operation.

The proposed guidelines would also recommend the disabling of the following operations by in-vehicle electronic devices while driving, unless the devices are intended for use by passengers and cannot reasonably be accessed or seen by the driver, or unless the vehicle is stopped and the transmission is in park.

• Visual-manual text messaging;
• Visual-manual internet browsing;
• Visual-manual social media browsing;
• Visual-manual navigation system destination entry by address;
• Visual-manual 10-digit phone dialing;
• Displaying to the driver more than 30 characters of text unrelated to the driving task.

NHTSA is also considering future, Phase II proposed guidelines that might address devices or systems that are not built into the vehicle but are brought into the vehicle and used while driving, including aftermarket and portable personal electronic devices such as navigation systems, smart phones, electronic tablets and pads, and other mobile communications devices. A third set of proposed guidelines (Phase III) may address voice-activated controls to further minimize distraction in factory-installed, aftermarket, and portable devices.

Continue reading »]]> A recent Injury Board article raises the interesting question – Can we fight technology with techology? That’s what some parents are asking when it comes to stopping their teenage sons or daughters using their cellphones while behind the wheel of the car. Instead of taking the phone away, which is an impractical option in many cases, parents are turning to new product offerings that are designed to use technology to help manage the distracted driving problem.

One such product, called CellControl, can control up to six cellphones. Parents who purchased the product say they are comforted by the fact that they can control their children’s cellphone use while driving, especially since, according to surveys,  nearly half of all young drivers use their cellphones to surf the Internet and a third use them to access social networking sites.

However, CellControl isn’t the only product available to parents looking to keep their young driver (and other road users) safe on the road. Product offerings from iZup, Zoomsafer and others offer technology that prevents or helps to control cellphone use while driving.

Parents aren’t the only ones worried about their drivers on the road. In fact, corporate fleet managers are increasingly turning to technology to prevent their employees/drivers from using their cellphones while driving.

Recent federal regulations that took effect on January 1 will impose fines for commercial truck and bus drivers up to $2,750 each time they’re caught using a cellphone while driving, and companies are becoming more aware of their obligations and responsibilities when it comes to employee safety and accident/damage liability.

It seems that parents and companies responsible for drivers are taking the position that technology got us into the problem of distracted driving in the first place, but it can also get us out.

Read the full article, complete with links to other related items  here

Continue reading »]]> A sad but timely reminder of the risks posed by the increasing use of connected technology by young drivers.  The Deseret News in Utah writes about the death of Taylor Sauer.

The 18-year-old gave a classmate a ride back to Utah State University in Logan, before beginning the return trip to her home in Caldwell, Idaho.

Taylor apparently passed the time on the long drive by communicating with others on Facebook.

“I can’t discuss this matter now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha,” she posted on the social networking website Facebook at 8:48 p.m.

Moments later, Sauer was dead, killed after the Saturn Vue she was driving collided with a tanker truck and was then hit by a semi truck moments later.

The crash remains under investigation, and Police would not confirm if distracted driving played a factor. But Sauer’s family has its own opinions.

“We know through Taylor’s Facebook account that she was actively in a conversation 12 to 15 minutes before the accident occurred,” Warr said. “We know that Taylor had done that in the past, and we know, as a family, that that probably or may have contributed to the accident.”

A study by University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer found that talking on a cellphone while driving leads to an impairment level equivalent to that of drunkenness. When texting, an individual is twice as impaired, the 2006 study concluded.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Strayer said of Sauer’s death. “We’re seeing a greater and greater trend for this sort of stuff. There’s no doubt about it that distractions are growing.”

Strayer said advances in technology and the installation of more devices in automobiles are exacerbating the problem.

“Clearly these technologies have a capability of really making the crash risk go up,” Strayer said. “I think the problem is a lot of this stuff is flashy and kind of exciting … Just because it’s fun to do, doesn’t mean it’s safe to do.”

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a unanimous recommendation last month that all states impose a ban on cellphone use while driving, including communication on hands-free devices. The measure would be more stringent than legislation in place in any state, including Utah, which passed its own careless driving law in 2009.

Read the full Article:  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705397536/Death-of-USU-student-in-Idaho-points-to-risks-of-distracted-driving.html?pg=1

Continue reading »]]> One of Australia’s top-rating programs, Channel 9′s “A Current Affair” has broadcast an interesting feature on the dangers of Distracted Driving in Australia.

Featuring interviews with academic experts and law enforcement representatives, the piece also includes a practical demonstration, using a driving simulator, of the effects of texting on driver behaviour and reaction times.

View a video of the broadcast here: http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8402146/texting-driver-danger

As with most broadcast media, the emphasis in this piece is on texting and cellphone use, but all of the most dangerous distraction characteristics also apply to the increasing use of computers and laptops by the mobile workforce.

Continue reading »]]> An update on recent articles related to Distracted Driving:

In this update we feature two interesting pieces:

• a New York Times article raising the question of insurance and distracted driving related accidents;
• a study claiming to show just how much more dangerous mp3/entertainment devices are than cellphones when it comes to distraction

What if Insurers Didn’t Pay Up For Texting Crashes?

The ‘Bucks’ blog on the New York Times discusses a proposal that insurance companies could help prevent distracted driving if they refused to pay claims for accidents caused by distracted driving.

The article presents a number of arguments against such action, but the point is an interesting one, and it is an area that people should consider carefully.

Read the piece here:  http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/what-if-insurers-didnt-pay-for-crashes-caused-by-texting/

Distraction Dangers

Mobiledia presents findings from a Drexel University study, showing that iPods and similar music devices are twice as dangerous as cell phones for drivers.

Researchers used a computerised driving simulator to perform the small scale study, the first to analyse the effects of using MP3 players while driving. All 12 participants left their lanes, increased their speeds, and followed other cars too closely when scrolling through the iPod looking for media.

Knowing how distracting cell phones can be, it may not be surprising that using an iPod while driving can also be distracting. More surprising is the size of the effect, said researcher Dario Salvucci, pointing out that scrolling for songs on an iPod proved twice as dangerous as dialing a cell phone.

Articles like this are of particular interest here, as computer/laptop use presents the same (and more) distraction potential than mp3 players, and use of these devices is set to increase.

Read the article here:  http://www.mobiledia.com/news/123163.html