Vote on Whether You Favor a Total Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving?

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Winter Weather Advisory in Effect

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the Louisville and Jefferson County area until 9:00 a.m. Friday. While accumulations are expected to be small, periods of heavy snow are expected. Temperatures are expected to drop and icy roads are likely. Wind is also expected to create blowing snow and white out conditions. Travel may be hazardous.

NTSB Recommends States Ban All Cell Phone Use While Driving.

NTSB Recommends Banning Cell Phones in Cars

A new report from the National Transportation and Safety Board recommends that all states ban the use of cell phones while driving. This includes hands-free use of cell phones, through blue tooth devices.

“According to NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said in a statement. “It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving. No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life.”

While the agency does not have the power to enforce such a ban, it’s recommendations carry a huge amount of weight. Whether states are willing to enforce such a ban in today’s “anti-regulation climate” remains to be seen.

Other experts question whether the governments own studies support the claims the agency makes. Only recently, we reported on a study that called into question those statistics, believing they had been “overstated.” You can read about that report, here.

Furthermore, while an overwhelming amount of people tend to support such bans as “texting and driving”, the recommendation includes all cell phone use, including the use of hands free devices. Questions remain whether such a broad prohibition is as popular or even effective.

Would the ban of cell phone use while driving have the desired effect of preventing such distractions? It’s doubtful. Even though an overwhelming percent of Americans are in favor of “texting and driving” bans, almost half of adults and more than half of teenagers admit to reading or sending a text while driving. Making the behavior a violation of the law is no more likely to have an effect.

There is no doubt that “texting and driving” is a dangerous distraction that can lead to accidents. However, that doesn’t mean that the use of a cell phone, especially with a hands-free device, in all situations is an equally dangerous distraction. There simply is not a lot of information on just how distracting cell phone use is when compared to other distractions that are considered acceptable risks in operating a motor vehicle.

In fact, at least one study has concluded that its not the use of cell phones that cause accidents, but distracted drivers in general.  CNet reported on a study back in 2010 that found distractions, not cell phones per se, were the cause of most car crashes.  Experts noted that while cell phone use had exploded over the past several years, there has been no increase in the number of accidents.  You can read the entire article, here.

Winter Weather Advisory in Effect Until Tuesday

The National Weather Center in Louisville has issued a Winter Weather Advisory until Tuesday morning at 5:00 am. Periods of snow, sometimes heavy, may cause slick spots on roads. A weather advisory means drivers should exercise caution while driving.

Studies May Have Overestimated Cell Phone Crash Risk.

Studies May Have Overestimated Cell Phone Crash Risk

A new analysis of previous studies regarding crash risk due to cell phone use may have overestimated the risk a new report shows.

“In the new report, Richard A. Young of Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit finds that two influential studies on the subject might have overestimated the risk.  The problem has to do with the studies’ methods.  Both studies — a 1997 study from Canada, and one done in Australia in 2005 — were “case-crossover” studies.  The researchers recruited people who had been in a crash, and then used their billing records to compare their cellphone use around the time of the crash with their cell use during the same time period the week before (called a “control window”).

But the issue with that is that people may not have been driving during that entire control window.  Such “part-time” driving would necessarily cut the odds of having a crash (and possibly reduce people’s cell use) during the control window — and make it seem like cellphone use is a bigger crash risk than it is.

If that information were applied to the two earlier studies, Young estimates, the crash risk tied to cellphone use would have been statistically insignificant.  That’s far lower than the studies’ original conclusions: that cellphone use while driving raises the risk of crashing four-fold.

But that doesn’t mean you should feel free to chat and text away at the wheel, according to Fernando Wilson, an assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.  A number of other studies, using designs other than case-crossover, have suggested that cellphone use — and particularly texting — is hazardous on the road, Wilson told Reuters Health.

“In wider policy, I don’t think this study is going to change the conversation about distracted driving,” Wilson said. “Most of the conventional thinking is that we need to do something to reduce it.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 450,000 Americans were injured in crashes linked to distracted driving in 2009. Another 5,500 were killed.”

You can read the entire article here.

Ford Recalls Fusion Mercury Milan Due to Concern Wheels Can Fall Off.

Ford Recalls 2010 Fusion/Milan

Ford Motor Company has issued a recall for 2010-2011 Fusion and Mercury Milan equipped with 17 inch wheels, due to concerns that the wheel studs may fracture.  This would lead to excessive vibration and if ignored, wheel separation.  That is, the wheels could actually come off.  Ford is unaware of any crashes that might have occurred as a result of the defect.

Owners will be notified the week of Jan. 24th.  Dealers will inspect the rear brake disc surface and replace the discs at no charge if necessary. The lug nuts will be replaced on all four wheels as well.

Hybrids Safer Than Gas

New report shows that Hybrid cars on average are 25% safer than comparable gas powered cars. Weight appears to be the biggest factor, since Hybrids typically weigh more. Read the entire article, here.

Do Siri and Other Voice to Text Messaging Apps Promote Safer Driving?

Do Voice to Text Apps Promote Safer Driving?

The recent release of Apple’s long awaited iPhone 4s brought with it an exciting new feature called Siri, a natural voice interface that uses artificial intelligence to interpret user commands and answer questions.  Ask Siri to text a contact and the commands are completed without any physical input by the user.  Elly over at Appchat has a short Youtube video demonstrating this Siri function, here.

While Siri is only available on the new iPhone 4s, there are other 3rd party voice to text apps available for other phones in both iTunes and the Android App Store.  These apps allow a user to record a message and turn it into text.  The user can then choose whether to email or text the message or send it as an update to Twitter or Facebook.  Other 3rd party apps read text and emails aloud, allowing you to respond with voice commands.  While these apps do turn voice into text and can initiate simple commands, they typically require a much larger amount of user input to function.

So, with this understanding can we say that functions like Siri and 3rd party iPhone and Android voice to text apps promote safer driving?

It’s clear that the a decrease in user input reduces the amount of time a user is distracted by his mobile phone.  Voice to text apps that eliminate the need to type or read text are clearly a better alternative than actually typing or reading the text itself.  However, that does not mean that these apps eliminate distractions themselves.

The US Dept. of Transportation maintains a website at distraction.gov that discusses the facts of distracted driving and the statistics on distraction’s role in car wrecks.   According to distraction.gov there are actually three main types of distractions:

• Visual-taking your eyes off the road
• Manual-taking your hands off the wheel,
• Cognitive-taking your mind off what you’re doing

According to distraction.gov among other statistics:

• Texting is the most alarming distraction, because it involves all three types of distraction
• 20% of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving
• The under 20 age group had the greatest proportion of distracted drivers
• Drivers who use a handheld device were four times likely to be involved in crashes serious enough to injure themselves.

Anything that takes your eyes, hands or mind off the task of driving is considered a distraction.  The higher the level of distraction, like text messaging, the better the likelihood that the distraction will play a role in a serious injury causing crash.

Any app or function that reduces or eliminates distractions  clearly promotes safer driving.  Among all the voice to text apps and functions, Siri would appear to hold the most promise.  However, while Siri and other 3rd party voice to text apps may reduce the amount of visual and manual distraction involved in sending a text message, they do not entirely eliminate all the distractions that can contribute to a car wreck.  The more a user is required to look at his device or physically input information into his device, the more visual, manual, and cognitive distraction that occurs.  The more distractions, the bigger the risk of an injury causing wreck.

Remember the safest way to drive is to avoid all distractions, including using your cell phone, whether or not you use Siri or other third party apps.  Do not under any circumstances manually text message someone while driving since this act is the most distracting, most dangerous and likely illegal.

Women More Likely to Get Hurt in Car Wrecks Even When Wearing Seatbelts.

Women More Likely to Be Hurt in Car Wrecks

US News just reported on findings by the American Journal of Public Health that revealed that women who wore seatbelts were more likely then men who wore seatbelts to be injured in car wrecks.  The report only looked at cars from 1998 to 2008, so newer cars may not provide the same results.

According to the report women were 47% m0re likely to be injured then men.  However, men were still more likely to die in a crash.  The reason?  Experts believe that women’s smaller size makes them more vulnerable due to their seating position and interaction with the safety restraints.

While newer safety technology may or may not reduce these findings, the fact remains that both men and women will continue to be injured in car wrecks.  The fact that cars are safer, doesn’t eliminate all injuries.  That’s because the dynamics of car wrecks still involve an intolerable amount of stress to the human body.  The human body simply is not designed to undergo impacts such as those in car wrecks.

Cars are a relatively recent industrial phenomenon.  The fact that cars have drastically improved in both design and safety does not remove the fact that a collision causes significant stress and force to the human body.  While seatbelts, headrests, and airbags have reduced the chance of the human body impacting hard stationary object in cars, they have not reduced the force at which the human body travels before it hits the restraint.

Safety features are a good thing and they continue to reduce the likelihood that someone in a car wreck will be seriously injured or killed.  However, that does not necessarily mean that they prevent all injuries.  Don’t be surprised if studies continue to show that injuries and deaths continue to occur in car wrecks no matter what safety features are involved.   Unfortunately, for women who are generally smaller then men, their size and muscle build may make them more likely to be injured in a car wreck, even while wearing a seatbelt.

How to Transport Children in Cars Safely

Transport Your Child Safely

USA Today recently published an article discussing a recent study by  the non-profit group Safe Kids USA that shows that most parents aren’t using child seats correctly. Only 30% are using the tether straps that keep the tops of child seats — and children’s heads — secured in crashes, and many are not using the safest seats for their children’s ages.

In light of this report USA Today published a follow-up article showing How to Transport Children Safely.  The article discusses the appropriate stages of child car safety from rear facing car seats to booster chairs for younger children, and when each is appropriate.  According to the guidelines:

• Children should ride in the back, facing the rear in safety seats until they are 2 or until they exceed the weight limits of the safety seat.
• Children above the age of two should ride in the back in forward facing safety seats until they exceed the weight limits.
• Children who have exceeded the height and weight limits of safety seats should ride in a booster seat until the lap and shoulder belts fit property, usually between 8 and 12.
• Seat belts fit correctly when the child can remain with his or her back against the seat and the knees bend naturally over the edge of the seat.  The lap belt should fit comfortably across the hips and the shoulder belt across the mid chest.
• Children under 13 are 40% safer in the back seat, whether or not they have airbags.  Never put a rear facing child safety seat near an active air bag.

These are must read articles for parents who transport children in cars and who might be unsure how their children should be secured or whether or not their child is ready to move to the next safety level.