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The NHTSA wants to develop a way to stop drivers using their smartphones while driving.
Distracted driving is a serious problem, which is being tackled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through a set of guidelines on driver distraction. This time, these guidelines are focused on portable and aftermarket devices, with the idea of including GPS units and smartphones.
As you may have seen by now, the NHTSA published “guidelines,” not rules. The difference is that these suggestions proposed by the organization could be voluntarily included by the manufacturers of those devices, but the measure will not be mandatory in the future. Evidently, things might change in a few years if people will not stop being irresponsible behind the wheel because of tech distractions.
After focusing on the multimedia units of vehicles, which also received their share of NHTSA guidelines back in 2013, the second phase of the project will target the interactions between the smartphone and the car in an attempt to curb the use of mobile phones by drivers.
The NHTSA calls the idea “Driver Mode,” which could be the name of the setup that will be adopted by smartphone makers when they discover a way to identify if someone is a driver or a passenger in a vehicle.
The good news about this new set of guidelines is that the proposed changes will not jam your phone signal, which could be a risky proposition in the event of a real emergency.
Instead, the authorities ask automakers and software developers to make it easier for drivers to interact with the essential functions of their devices without looking at their screens.
In short, instead of fearing that the NHTSA wants to cut you off from your mobile phone while driving (it does make sense), the organization just proposes a few ideas on how to obstruct people from looking at their smartphones while driving. From there, the user will have access to the phone’s navigation, as well as calls with a hands-free function.
Other suggestions from the NHTSA will prevent the driver from watching videos, displaying photos, manual text entry, and scrolling through long amounts of text. In other words, this should stop people from looking at their phones while driving, without hindering useful connectivity.
As you may have seen by now, the NHTSA published “guidelines,” not rules. The difference is that these suggestions proposed by the organization could be voluntarily included by the manufacturers of those devices, but the measure will not be mandatory in the future. Evidently, things might change in a few years if people will not stop being irresponsible behind the wheel because of tech distractions.
After focusing on the multimedia units of vehicles, which also received their share of NHTSA guidelines back in 2013, the second phase of the project will target the interactions between the smartphone and the car in an attempt to curb the use of mobile phones by drivers.
The NHTSA calls the idea “Driver Mode,” which could be the name of the setup that will be adopted by smartphone makers when they discover a way to identify if someone is a driver or a passenger in a vehicle.
The good news about this new set of guidelines is that the proposed changes will not jam your phone signal, which could be a risky proposition in the event of a real emergency.
Instead, the authorities ask automakers and software developers to make it easier for drivers to interact with the essential functions of their devices without looking at their screens.
In short, instead of fearing that the NHTSA wants to cut you off from your mobile phone while driving (it does make sense), the organization just proposes a few ideas on how to obstruct people from looking at their smartphones while driving. From there, the user will have access to the phone’s navigation, as well as calls with a hands-free function.
Other suggestions from the NHTSA will prevent the driver from watching videos, displaying photos, manual text entry, and scrolling through long amounts of text. In other words, this should stop people from looking at their phones while driving, without hindering useful connectivity.
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