NTSB’s 10 Most Wanted List – 2012

Kelly Messerschmidt
Technical Communications Manager
MSC

Each year the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) releases a list of 10 most-wanted safety improvements. The agency’s annual list is intended to increase awareness and support for the most critical changes necessary for reducing traffic accidents.

The following are a few of the advocacy priorities that appear on this year’s list:

Eliminate Distraction in Transportation
The NTSB suggests that states and regulators ban the nonessential use of portable electronic devices that don’t directly support a driving-related task. The agency suggests that manufacturers develop technology that disables portable electronic devices within reach of the driver. They also point out that young drivers are especially likely to use portable electronic devices (such as cell phones) when driving, and that antidistraction campaigns specifically directed at teens are important.

Mandate Motor Vehicle Collision Avoidance Technologies
Technologies such as electronic stability control, lane departure warning, and forward collision warning exist to help improve drivers’ reaction time and aid drivers when an unexpected driving condition occurs. Despite the availability of these and other technologies, some are not required or mandated. The NTSB purports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should establish standards and mandate certain technologies as standard equipment in cars and commercial motor vehicles.

Improve the Safety of Bus Operations
The NTSB puts forth that an important step in improving the safety of bus operations is ensuring that professional motorcoach drivers are qualified. Methods of helping ensure that a driver can be considered "qualified" include longer and more comprehensive reviews of their driving history, maintaining higher expectations and standards as far as drivers’ undergoing regular medical exams, and limiting drivers’ hours of service.

In addition to these most-wanted improvements, the NTSB lists safety improvements in areas including aviation, rail, and infrastructure.

Read more about NTSB’s most-wanted safety improvements at the agency's website. 

Alabama to Become 38th State to Ban Texting While Driving

William Messerschmidt
Principal Technical Analyst
MSC

Tomorrow, 01 August 2012, Alabama will become the 38th State to ban texting while driving. This new law was authored by Representative Jim McClendon of Springville. According to the Birmingham News and AL.com, Rep. McClendon (who is a doctor of optometry) worked on this bill for six years prior to seeing it passed.

The law states:

A person may not operate a motor vehicle on a public road, street, or highway in Alabama while using a wireless telecommunication device to write, send, or read a text-based communication. (Read the full text from the Legislature.)

The law offers four exceptional circumstances when it is permitted:

• Dialing a phone number to make a voice call is still permitted. 
• Texting, emailing, and using an Internet browser is permitted if you are parked on the shoulder of the roadway. 
• You may use text communications to obtain emergency services, such as police, fire, paramedics, or other emergency health services.
• You made read the screen of a GPS device while driving, but not program locations and coordinates. 

Violating the new law will be worth two points on a driver’s license, and fines will be $25, $50, and $75 dollars (for the first through third and subsequent offenses), and the law can be enforced by State Troopers, city police officers, and a county’s Sheriff’s office.

Although the author of this post is uncertain how emergency police, fire, or health services would be obtained by text messages and email, the law very likely has the ability to save lives and property. Furthermore, only five states in the US allow drivers to send text messages while driving (technically, there is no state law in Hawaii, but each county in Hawaii has an ordinance against it).

View a map created by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of states that have banned texting and driving.

AL Governor Bentley Signs Law to Prohibit Texting While Driving

Kevin Jones
Technical Analyst
MSC

On Tuesday, 08 May 2012, Alabama governor Robert Bentley signed a bill that outlaws texting while driving. The law goes into effect on 01 August 2012. The law doesn’t prohibit dialing a phone; however, it does ban texting, instant messaging, and sending emails while operating an automobile.

Alabama is the 38th state to make texting while driving illegal. Under the new law, if a person is ticketed for a texting-while-driving offense, he or she could be fined up to $75 and receive violations on his or her driving record. Gov. Bentley compared the new law to Alabama’s seatbelt law, which is also a measure to prevent fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.

Read a news article about Alabama’s new law banning texting while driving.

DOT Launches Creative Icon Contest for Teens: the "Distracted Driving Design Challenge"

Kelly Messerschmidt

Technical Communications Manager

MSC

This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released new findings indicating that teenagers are the least likely vehicle passengers to speak up when drivers are texting or talking on a cell phone. Read more about this recent research in NHTSA's April 2012 “Traffic Safety Facts: Research Note" document.

In order to encourage teens to tell distracted drivers that cell phone use behind the wheel is dangerous, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched a new social media icon contest, called the "Distracted Driving Design Challenge." The contest is open to US teens, ages 13-18. The winning graphic will be incorporated into DOT’s official campaign to end distracted driving and will appear in numerous social media outlets.

The DOT invites teens to submit an original, creative icon, measuring 180 x 180 pixels, in either JPG, TIF, PNG, or GIF image format that sends the clear message that cell phones and driving don’t mix.  Learn more about the contest; then submit an entry between the dates of April 16 – July 31, 2012. The winner will be announced on September 4, 2012.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for American teens. Because texting requires a driver’s visual, manual, and cognitive attention, it is a particularly dangerous distraction.

NHTSA Proposes Guidelines Against “Excessively Distracting Devices”

William Messerschmidt
Principal Technical Analyst
MSC

On 02/24/12, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed new guidelines for auto manufacturers that cover original-equipment, in-vehicle devices that augment or facilitate “secondary tasks” in which visual information is received and a physical action is performed in response to that information.

By “secondary tasks,” NHTSA means actions that we perform while we operate or control the vehicle, which are not part of the primary task (driving), such as entertainment and communication. For example, the timely prompt from your GPS device to “in a half mile, make a right turn,” is considered part of the primary task (driving), but texting a friend your arrival time is a secondary task.

Almost all drivers engage in secondary tasks while driving (such as adjusting climate control, changing radio stations), and often there is very little decrease in their safety. However, as technological advances make more and more options accessible to the driver, the potential exists to build in dangerous devices. For example: your in-dash GPS display isn’t a distraction under most circumstances, but imagine if that same display showed your Facebook News Feed! [Please note that absolutely no manufacturer has ever proposed this extreme example.]

In order to differentiate between the less extreme (and more realistic) examples of safe versus unsafe technology, researchers considered variables such as the type of information displayed, the manner in which it is displayed, and the type of manual response elicited by the information.

The NHTSA guideline describes five types of displays or devices that are always unsafe. They are:

• Photographic or video images not immediately related to driving (images such as blindspot cameras, GPS navigation, and weather information are considered directly related to the driving task);
• Photographic or graphical static visual images that are unrelated to driving (such as album art and personal photos);
  
• Automatically scrolling text;
• Manual text entry of more than six key presses;
• Reading more than 30 characters (not including spaces and punctuation).

You can read a short summary of the new NHTSA Guidelines at Occupational Safety Online, or view the document in its entirety in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, Issue 37.

NHTSA Evolves Alongside Automobile Technology

Kevin Jones
Technical Analyst
MSC

Today’s vehicles are being equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), lane-departure warning systems, blind spot detection, voice/data communications, airbags, entertainment systems, electronic data recorders (EDRs), and an array of other devices for passengers’ entertainment, information, navigation, convenience, comfort, and vehicle emission controls.

Obviously we are way past those days when people could understand vehicles by simply opening the doors, popping the hood, and kicking the tires. Because automobiles have evolved quickly and in many ways, research organizations and institutions are driven to stay current with how these different electronics affect vehicle and roadway safety.

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) recently issued a report in response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) requesting that the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) National Research Council (NRC) study how NHTSA’s various departments are ensuring that vehicle electronics are benefiting – and not compromising – the safety of vehicles.

As part of their study, the NSC appointed a 16-member panel that was asked to review NHTSA’s response to faulty electronics claims and unintentional acceleration. The findings are contained in TRB Special Report 308: The Safety Challenge and Promise of Automotive Electronics: Insights from Unintended Acceleration. Visit The National Academies Press website to download the report.

View NHTSA’s statement in response to the report.

"Green" Drivers: Proceed with Caution

Kelly Messerschmidt
Technical Communications Manager
Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

Every year, close to 11,000 "green" drivers - teen and young adults ages 15-24 - die in motor vehicle accidents. This is the equivalent of an airplane-full of young people dying each week.

At the "Alive at 25" defensive driving class, put on by the National Safety Council (NSC) and State Farm Insurance, in Birmingham, Alabama, June 14-16, 2011, instructor Janice Leverette told an audience of teen drivers that "the person right next to you is 'the other person.'" And that YOU are the "other person" to everyone else. She explained that you cannot make assumptions about what other people on the road are going to do.... You don't know what they are thinking, or what challenges they are facing behind their own steering wheel. However, while you can't control other drivers, it is your number one responsibility to control yourself and your vehicle. In order to arrive at your destination alive, you need to stay alert, attentive, and understand the hazards and consequences of what you do. Because no one plans to get into an accident.

During the class, the teens shared some of the challenges they've experienced and observed as new drivers. Distractions, lack of experience, "other people" on the road, inattention, arrogance, and feeling like certain rules of the road are "optional" were just some of the challenges this group has witnessed.

"Alive at 25" is an important and valuable class. As an adult sitting in on the class, it was a real eye-opener - and it served as a huge reminder to me that defensive driving is imperative. Something that surprised me (and also took me back down memory lane to my own teen years), was listening to the teens report having seen a number of seriously risky driving behaviors.

Bearing in mind that the oldest teens in today's class were 17, here are some of the things these young adults reported having SEEN other drivers doing: using drugs and/or alcohol, texting and using iPods while driving, dancing in the car, driving "crazy" for "fun," and taking risks for the thrill of it. As Ms. Leverette pointed out to the group, "you are your number one risk on the road." However, you should make the choices that will allow you to survive to grow old.

Strategies that were discussed in the class to help drivers be safer included:

• Keeping a following distance of at least three seconds;
• Slowing down in road construction zones;
• Paying attention while on the road and especially during poor weather conditions;
• Being very careful of pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, and also slow-moving vehicles;
• Not participating in distracting activities;
• Watching out for hazards and having a plan;
• Not speeding;
• Taking responsibility for your decisions;
• Buckling up every time you get in a vehicle.

The class participants were very engaged in the class, and they participated actively with each other. I believe the class was very successful in presenting powerful material to teens in a way that was both candid and meaningful.

It's not too late to register for one of tomorrow's sessions of Alive at 25; tomorrow's sessions are geared to new drivers and attendance is free. The sessions will take place at 2125 Data Office Drive, Suite 102, in Hoover, Alabama. There is a session tomorrow at 8am and another one at 1pm. The class is three hours long. Refreshments are provided, and each participant receives a t-shirt and a red thumb ring to serve as a reminder to not text and drive. Call 1-800-457-7233 to sign up or to learn more.

If you can't make it for these new-driver sessions of "Alive at 25," there will be more offered this October during Teen Driver Week. However, the class is also offered to experienced drivers, as well as to people who have received moving violations. To view contact information for signing up or learning more, please visit the National Safety Council’s Alabama Chapter online.

Technology Aside, Driver Safety is Top Priority for NHTSA

Kevin Jones
Technical Analyst
Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

With so many telematics and smart phone technologies built into today’s automobile, what’s possible seems limitless. More and more, it looks like we’re closing the gap between what Hanna-Barbera’s The Jetsons envisioned in the 1960s and where we are now.

Nevertheless, all of this technology is not as openly welcomed as you might think. While there is a lot of excitement about new technologies and their being incorporated into automobiles, some safety advocates would like to see more restraint.

On June 9, 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Administrator, David L. Strickland, spoke at the 2011 Detroit Diesel conference in Novi, Michigan. Mr. Strickland praised the use of vehicle technology that supports such functions as vehicle maintenance and also the use of navigation systems to help first-responders in the event of vehicle crashes. However, he made it clear that he does not support technologies that are distracting to drivers. In Mr. Strickland’s presentation, titled "USDOT Sheds Lights on Driver Distraction Issues (Crucial Session)," he expresses that while drivers’ connecting to all the new technologies in their vehicle is not necessary, some vehicle owners still very much embrace the technologies being added to vehicles.

In May 2011, at the Association for Safer International Road Travel Annual Gala Fundraiser, in Washington, D.C., Mr. Strickland spoke about the need for crash avoidance technologies. In his remarks, Mr. Strickland says, “Crash avoidance technologies provide an opportunity to save lives and reduce injuries by supporting the driver and preventing crashes from occurring in the first place.” He also puts forth that vehicle to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication are two possible ways to help reduce the number of automobile crashes.

However, at the same time that these safety applications are making a positive difference in reducing crashes, and while their use is being encouraged, NHTSA is simultaneously “taking a hard look at these systems” and challenging both the auto industry and cell phone industry to work hand-in-hand with federal transportation officials “to keep the driver on their required task: driving.”

"Novice Mistakes" and Distracted Driving Among Teen Drivers

Garrick Infanger

Armstrong Forensic Engineers

MSC would like to thank our friends at Armstrong Forensic Engineers for this guest post.

Distracted driving is now a hot topic among both legislators and the press. Should car accidents resulting from texting be treated as a crime? Are anti-texting laws and service announcements effective?

Georgia's July 1, 2010 ban of texting while driving makes it one of 30 states with similar laws. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that there is some debate as to whether texting laws actually increase the rate of accidents as people attempt to text out of sight from police, actually furthering their attention from the roadway.

Utah recently passed a new law that penalizes drivers who text to the same degree as drivers who drink and drive. The New York Times reports, "In effect, a crash caused by such a multitasking motorist is no longer considered an 'accident' like one caused by a driver who, say, runs into another car because he nodded off at the wheel. Instead, such a crash would now be considered inherently reckless."

Even Oprah has gotten in on the debate with a campaign titled the "No Phone Zone." What else leads teen drivers into accidents? Should we be looking at other "novice driving" mistakes?

Tara Parker-Pope looks at teen drivers at her blog "Well":

Teenagers are notoriously bad drivers, accounting for 10 times as many crashes as middled-aged ones. But short of keeping them off the road entirely, is there a way to make their driving safer - for them and for the rest of us?

New research suggests that there is. A nationally representative sample of more than 800 crashes involving teenage drivers shows that almost two-thirds were due not to reckless behavior like speeding or joyriding but to three novice driving mistakes: failing to scan the road, misjudging driving conditions and becoming distracted.

Focusing on these three common mistakes could go a long way in improving teenage driving and reducing fatalities, said an author of the report, Dr. Dennis Durbin, co-director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

With the encouraging news that truck-related fatalities continue to decrease, we can hope the state of teen drivers also improves with time.

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Garrick Infanger writes for the Forensic Engineering Hub, an engineering-focused blog sponsored by Armstrong Forensic Engineers.

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Photo Credit: Stuart Bradford

New Anti-Distracted Driving Rules Announced at the 2010 Distracted Driving Summit

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced at yesterday’s second national Distracted Driving Summit that the federal government is initiating a new rulemaking to limit commercial truck drivers’ use of all electronic devices while hauling hazardous materials, as well as seeking to ban text messaging by all drivers hauling hazardous materials.

These announcements came on the heels of last week’s proposed rulemaking submitted to the White House for final review, which would prohibit all truck drivers from texting while driving. It is likely that this rule will be published in the Federal Register as early as next week, in which case the rule would take effect in late October.

Read more about LaHood's announcements during yesterday's Distracted Driving Summit.

Learn about distracted driving and the summit at DOT's site.

National Two-Second Turnoff Day: Sept. 17, 2010

A lot can happen in two seconds. For example, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, taking your eyes off the road for two seconds doubles your chances of being in a car crash. However, it only takes two seconds to turn off your cell phone before you get behind the wheel.

National Two-Second Turnoff Day takes place tomorrow. The campaign, sponsored by AAA, Seventeen Magazine, and the US Department of Transportation (DOT), urges teens to pay special attention to the risks of distracted driving. Research conducted by AAA and Seventeen found that 86% of male and female teens have driven while distracted, even though 84% admitted they know it's dangerous.

Seventeen Magazine's "Viral Video Challenge,” part of National Two-Second Turnoff Day, is actively helping teens spread the news of the dangers of distracted driving. Winner Emily Langston's anti-distracted driving video, "It Can Wait," will be featured at DOT's 2010 Distracted Driving Summit, in Washington, D.C., on September 21, 2010.

Congratulations to Ms. Langston, AAA, Seventeen Magazine, and DOT for working hard to promote safe driving.

Visit the official US Government website for distracted driving.

27% of Americans Admit to Texting While Driving

Cell phones have universal appeal for a multitude of reasons, including staying in close
contact with family, friends, coworkers or clients. With the advent of smart phones, having
access to information, news, messaging, and games on handheld devices further encourages their use.

A new Pew Internet survey reports that 27% of American adults (those age 18 and
older) say they have texted while driving. These findings come from a nationwide phone
survey of 2,252 American adults conducted between April 29 - May 30, 2010.

People ages 18-33 are the most likely age group to report texting while driving, and 59% report having sent or read messages while behind the wheel. Fifty percent of people ages 34-45 report having sent or read messages while behind the wheel, while 29% of people ages 46-64 report doing so.

"The temptation to stay connected and multitask in what is otherwise seen as idle time is very strong," said Mary Madden, a senior research specialist at the Pew Research Center and an author of the new study. "However, one point that is often overlooked in discussions of this issue is that it's about more than just keeping your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. When you're in conversation with someone outside the car — whether texting or talking — it reduces your situational awareness which is so essential to having a quick reaction time to hazards on the road."

Read a short article about the study.

Effective July 1: Kansas Safety Belt Law, Georgia Text Ban

Kansas Becomes 31st State to Pass Primary Safety Belt Law
Beginning July 1st, law enforcement officers can stop truckers for not wearing a safety belt in Kansas. Previously, Kansas law considered failing to wear a safety belt a secondary offense; it could only be enforced if the driver was stopped for another infraction, such as speeding. By passing the law, Kansas is eligible for $1 million in federal funds for public safety programs. Read an article by the Wichita Eagle.

Georgia Becomes 28th State to Ban Texting While Driving
Also beginning on July 1st, drivers in Georgia can receive a citation for texting while driving. The law bans sending a text message as well as reading an incoming text. However, Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue indicated that the law may change in the future because of potentially confusing ramifications in the language. When a cell phone buzzes, the driver may not know whether it is a phone call or a text message without checking the phone. A law enforcement official may interpret checking a phone to be reading a text message. Read an article by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Maryland Bans Handheld Cell Phone Use While Driving; Wisconsin Bans Texting While Driving

Maryland is the latest state to ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving. On May 20, Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law a bill that makes it a secondary offense to be caught using a handheld cell phone while driving. This means an officer can enforce the law only after observing a driver committing another offense, such as running a stop sign. Under the new law, which will take effect on October 1, drivers will be permitted to use a hands-free device for talking.

Wisconsin recently enacted a law banning texting while driving. On May 5, Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law a bill that makes it a primary offense to be caught texting on a mobile device while driving. The new law will take effect on December 1. With the Wisconsin ban, 50 percent of states have enacted a ban on texting. Governors Highway Safety Association’s executive director Barbara Harsha said that she expected another 10 to 15 states to act on a texting ban within the next year.

View a comprehensive list of all cell phone- and texting-while-driving bans by state.

Cell phone use while driving and text messaging while driving are just two examples of distracted driving. Learn more about distracted driving.

Washington Fortifies Law on Hands-Free Cell Phone Use While Driving

On March 26, Washington became the 6th state to pass a law making it a primary offense to be caught holding a cell phone to your ear while driving.

By making it a primary offense to use a cell phone without a headset while driving, a law enforcement officer can stop any driver seen holding a cell phone to their ear. Previously, this was considered a secondary offense; it could only be enforced if the driver was stopped for another infraction, such as speeding.

The others states passing laws that make talking without a headset a primary offense are California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon. The District of Columbia has also enacted this law. Read more about the law.

FMCSA Bans Text Messaging While Driving CMVs

On Tuesday, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a ban on text messaging while driving for all commercial truck and bus drivers. The ban goes into effect today, 27 January 2010, and is the result of an administrative interpretation of 49 CFR 390.17.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has provided regulatory guidance on this issue; read the rule in the Federal Register.

Transport Topics Online quoted American Trucking Association (ATA) President Bill Graves as saying, “ATA supports DOT’s action to ban the use of handheld wireless devices by commercial drivers to send or receive text messages while driving.”

Landline Magazine Online quoted Owner Operators and Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, whose review was not as positive:

“We support where they are going, but not how they got there…. Making their action effective immediately bypasses normal regulatory rulemaking processes. Those processes allow actions to be vetted for unintended consequences, as well as potential implementation and enforcement problems.”

The fine for texting while driving will be up to $2,750.00

FocusDriven: Raising Awareness About Distracted Driving

FocusDriven is a national nonprofit organization created by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the National Safety Council to address the issue of distracted driving. People who talk or text on their cell phone while driving are considered distracted drivers. Distracted drivers can create dangerous situations on the road and have caused an increase in fatal car crashes. The formation of FocusDriven was formally announced last Tuesday.

The mission of FocusDriven is to advocate for victims of motor vehicle crashes caused by people using their cell phone while driving, and also to increase public awareness about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. Increased public awareness could help advance public policies to address distracted driving as well as ultimately lead to the group’s ability to expand their mission to include educational components and technology solutions.

Results of a public opinion poll conducted by Nationwide Insurance show 81% of the public admitting to talking on a cell phone while driving. This statistic, as well as other important information, can be found at FocusDriven’s website.

Additional information can be found at the Department of Transportation’s website on distracted driving.

Learn more about an example of technology aimed at helping individuals avoid the temptation to talk or text while driving--and also aimed at helping businesses enforce policies against distracted driving--at the ZoomSafer website.

The Life-Saving Potential of Technology

A few weeks ago, we were introduced to a new product that is getting some very well deserved media attention. The product is called Zoomsafer, and it's a mobile phone application that works to prevent (or at least discourage) texting and e-mailing while driving. The application installs on your mobile phone, where it detects motion. At this point, it automatically enables a message that will let your callers know that you are driving and temporarily prevents you from texting or e-mailing. The application can even update a user's Facebook and Twitter status.

Why is that important? Consider this: According to a 2006 study by NHTSA and Virgina Tech Transporation Institute: in 80% of crashes and in 65% of near crashes, the driver was distracted within three seconds of the incident. The leading cause of that distraction? Cell phones.

Links to that study and other NHTSA-funded research on driver distraction and fatigue are available here.

And if you're still not convinced that cell phone use (even hands-free) is dangerous, take a look at this article from the New York Times.

Given the size and scope of this problem, which certainly doesn't seem to have gotten better since 2006, Zoomsafer is very exciting piece of technology.

A product demo is available here, and you can see Zoomsafer's CEO Michael Riemer on Fox Business News here.

This is exciting stuff, and at MSC we're excitedly awaiting the release for Windows Mobile.

Holiday Traffic Safety

With Independence Day around the corner, many of of us will either be driving or will have loved ones driving to visit us. The staff at MSC is looking forward to friends and family visiting Birmingham from Florida, Colorado, and Virginia. Meanwhile, we'll be traveling to assignments in Mississippi, Arkansas, and other parts of Alabama.

According to the Alabama State Troopers, 16 people lost their lives in traffic-related fatalities during the 78-hour Independence Day Weekend period last year. This year, the Alabama Troopers will conduct an aggressive enforcement campaign to try to curb those numbers. Read the article in the Montgomery Advertiser here.

Going hand-in-hand with enforcement is education. America's Road Team has several great recommendations for safe driving. These recommendations are worth keeping in mind year round:

• Plan your route
• Bring extra water
• Be aware of truck blind spots
• Slow down
• Use your cell phone after you are safely parked
• Don't cut off large trucks (or anyone else!)
• Wear your seat belt

The whole article is available here and is definitely worth reading before you take to the highway this 4th of July.

From all of us at MSC, have a safe and happy holiday, and remember to thank the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who continue to the keep the Greatest Nation "The Land of the Free."

Technology and Distracted Driving

June 28th is the last day of the National Safety Council's National Safety Month. Their 2009 campaign has addressed Teen Driving, Fall Protection, Overexertion, and Distracted Driving. Because of MSC's focus on highway traffic safety, I thought this final week of the campaign warranted an additional post.

Distraction is often defined as when a driver focuses his or her attention on something other than the driving task. When this happens, perceiving the nature of a potential roadway hazard and responding to it takes longer.

"New" technologies (cell phones, wireless e-mail, and so on) have received quite a bit of unfavorable attention as potential distractions. However, the real problem is that drivers misuse the technology: they send text messages while driving and have cell phone conversations that are intense enough to create a high mental workload. If we are honest, a) I think we all know better, but b) we all do it anyway, at least occasionally.

Since we can't put the technology-genie back in the bottle (and we wouldn't want to even if we could), and because we generally do a poor job of changing people's driving behaviors, this is an area where we will have to rely heavily on other technologies to assist educators and enforcers in keeping roadways safer.

One great example of engineering technology coming to the rescue is a new product called Zoomsafer. MSC doesn't have any interest in this company, we don't receive any kickback from them, and we haven't studied it ourselves (or seen other peer-reviewed studies of it). However, these folks definitely have the right idea: use technology to assist the user and make his or her experience better and safer.

Zoomsafer may or may not work--I've signed up to be a beta customer so I can find out for myself. And the product is still in its infancy (it's still signing on beta customers). But this is absolutely on the right track: making people's lives better and safer with technology, and then finding an effective way to bring that technology to market.