The Tech Powered Fight Against Distracted Driving

By Sarah Dimock

We’ve all been there. You’re running late, your phone is buzzing away, your hair looks like a bird just finished using it as a nest and you’ve gotta hit the road or the person you’re going to see is gonna absolutely kill you. While it might be tempting to answer those texts while you’re driving, it can wait. According to the U.S. department of transportation, “Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. At 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field.” Being aware of the fact that we do get distracted and attempting to be more mindful while we’re on the road is the point of distracted driving awareness month, which just happens to be this month. So, this April, Capitol is doing our part to encourage you to think twice about giving in to those easy distractions.

Cars are a miracle of invention. Like many cutting-edge technologies, they make our lives better and many Americans have no way to get from place to place anymore without them. Cars are so commonplace that it’s easy to forget that the average weight of a car is about 4,000 lbs. and when we drive, we’re encouraging all that steel to scream down the road at rapid speeds. Fortunately for us, technology is constantly improving and many cars anymore have safety features that the cars of yore couldn’t imagine. Backup cameras have quickly become a safety requirement for all U.S. automakers as well as many manufacturers abroad. Lane departure warning systems that can alert drivers if they accidentally shift out of their lane without a turn signal are available in many new vehicles with options to potentially install them in your existing car. We can sync our phones with the computer system in our vehicle to be able to talk or send texts hands free and with our eyes still on the road. Some cars can even parallel park themselves thanks to the incorporation of autonomous technology. In general, most cars are smarter these days. Your own car may even have more features to keep you safe than you know about.

Want to get more in tune with your vehicle? The National Security Council has teamed up with the University of Iowa to create an extremely helpful website: MyCarDoesWhat.org. My Car Does What? is all about knowing more and driving safer. It has tons of information about safety features like anti-lock braking systems and automatic headlights, but you can also look up and learn about your specific vehicle safety features through their safety features links page.

My Car Does What? also has a cars and safety features of the future page which we highly recommend checking out. Here they have well researched information about fully automated or autonomous vehicles, engineering problems that we’re currently facing before we can get to the next wave of automotive tech, and much more.

Technology continues to advance, and with its evolution automotive safety will improve in ways both expected and unexpected. Self-driving cars aren’t quite here yet though, and until they are, we all need to do our part to keep roads safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has these tips to share:

• Need to send a text? Pull over and park your car in a safe location. Only then is it safe to send or read a text.
• Designate your passenger as your “designated texter.” Allow them access to your phone to respond to calls or messages.
• Do not engage in social media scrolling or messaging while driving. Cell phone use can be habit-forming. Struggling to not text and drive? Put the cell phone in the trunk, glove box, or back seat of the vehicle until you arrive at your destination.
• If your driver is texting or otherwise distracted, tell them to stop and focus on the road.
• Ask your friends to join you in pledging not to drive distracted. You could save a life.
• Share your pledge on social media to spread the word—#JustDrive.

“This April, and throughout the year, let’s work together to spread this lifesaving message: U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”