Text-Blocking Technology as a Tool for Reducing Distracted Driving Accidents

April 15, 2011

Distracted driving, especially from text messaging and cell phone use, is a menace on streets and highways throughout Nevada and across the country. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 20 percent of traffic injury crashes in 2009 involved distracted driving. Over 5,000 Americans lost their lives and an estimated 448,000 were injured by distracted driving, and nearly 18 percent of the fatalities in these car accidents were linked to cell phone use.

Mobile Devices and Legislative Bans

Millions of Americans rely on mobile devices to surf the Internet, maintain social networks, and store documents. These handy communication devices rely on radio waves to receive and transmit information. But studies have shown that cell phone use while driving reduces driver reactions similar to having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 percent.

Thirty states have tried some form of ban on texting or cell-phone use while driving. Nevada has not enacted a legislative ban on texting behind the wheel; however, the Silver State has a number of text banning bills pending vote before their Assembly and Senate.

These laws are important as a statement of policy. But their effect depends on how people respond to them and how they are enforced. They do not necessarily decrease cell phone use and texting by drivers across the board.

The Advantages of Text-Blocking

But now, however, with text-blocking tools, it may be possible to fight technology with technology. Seeking proactive measures to curb texting while driving, some carriers have developed cell phone blocking technology.

This technology blocks the signals that are transmitted and/or received by mobile devices. Carriers such as Sprint, AT&T and Nextel are developing their blocking technologies. Others, such as T-mobile and Verizon, offer jamming technologies for small fees. Additionally, some cell phone applications provide the option of disabling phones.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that the federal government is also looking at this developing technology as a means of promoting public safety; however, the highway safety agency may have to consider input from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on this issue. Recently, the FCC instituted a crack down on cell phone and GPS jammers because of their potential negative impact on emergency communications. Systems must be devised that maximize traffic safety and do not encumber public or emergency safety responses.

These issues need to be worked out, because texting while driving continues to be a major public safety issue. It is like a battle with many front, as legislators ponder the issue, carriers develop technology, and the federal government attempts to coordinate its safety efforts. The most important front of all, however, is the one closest to home: individual responsibility. Drivers must recognize their addiction to mobile technology and the negative consequences of this class of distracted driving.

Article provided by Harris & Harris Lawyers
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