Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Volvo buys full-page ads to pledge support for distracted driving legislation]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/30/volvo-buying-full-page-ads-to-pledge-support-for-distracted-driv/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/30/volvo-buying-full-page-ads-to-pledge-support-for-distracted-driv/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/30/volvo-buying-full-page-ads-to-pledge-support-for-distracted-driv/#commentsFiled under: ,



Volvo has publicly stated that it would like to eradicate accident-related injuries and deaths per year by the year 2020; an extraordinarily lofty goal that would obviously save countless lives. But in the next ten years, hundreds of thousands of drivers will die in traffic accidents in the U.S. alone, and Volvo feels that anti-distracted driving legislation passing through Washington right now could save quite a few.

To support the legislation, Volvo took out full-page ads in yesterday's Washington Post and USA Today. Volvo points out in the ads that it has long been committed to avoiding distracted driving accidents, and safety tech like adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning are evidence of the Swedish automaker's track record. The ads are purposely being run at the same time law makers, safety advocates, law enforcement and transportation officials converge in Washington for a distracted driving summit.

Volvo Cars North America President and CEO Doug Speck underscores his company's commitment to distracted driving laws, stating the need for "reasonable laws that help focus a driver's attention on the road will help reduce collisions, just as laws to enforce seat belt use have helped save lives." And when Volvo is talking about distracted driving, it's not just worried about text messaging and cell phones. The Swedish automaker also counts passengers, rubbernecking, driver fatigue, reading newspapers, books, and maps, adjusting the radio and looking at scenery as potential driving hazards.

We're definitely with Volvo with the book reading and the rubbernecking, but we'll take majestic scenery wherever we can get it. And if Volvo wants to eradicate map reading in the car, it can start by improving its own cloyingly contrived navigation system interface. Hit the jump to read the Volvo press release.

[Source: Volvo]

Continue reading Volvo buys full-page ads to pledge support for distracted driving legislation

Volvo buys full-page ads to pledge support for distracted driving legislation originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2020cell phonesCellPhonesdistracted drivingDistractedDrivingsafetytext messagingTextMessagingvolvoWed, 30 Sep 2009 18:01:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19178846/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/09/30/volvo-buying-full-page-ads-to-pledge-support-for-distracted-driv/19178846/article-detail.xml 19178846 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/09/volvo-distracted-driving-ad-clip_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/09/volvo-distracted-driving-ad-clip.jpg <![CDATA[Semi-Dangerous? Truckers group says texting while driving is safe, necessary]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/29/semi-dangerous-truckers-group-says-texting-while-driving-is-saf/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/29/semi-dangerous-truckers-group-says-texting-while-driving-is-saf/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/29/semi-dangerous-truckers-group-says-texting-while-driving-is-saf/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Research shows that a driver can be as much as 23 times more likely to get into an accident if he or she is texting while driving. New legislation in Washington aims to ban texting while driving by forcing states to adopt the federal mandate or risk losing federal highway greenbacks. One group is fighting the legislation, and it's not teen drivers or multimedia addicts, it's our nation's truck drivers. Truckers, the guys who drive around in 18 wheelers which take 2-3 times as much road to stop when compared to the typical car, often have touch screen computers on the dashboard and keyboards on their laps. They use the multimedia tech to map routes and converse with dispatch, saving minutes (and money) in the hyper-competitive shipping business.

Drivers told The New York Times that they're all but forced to communicate with such computers, as pulling off the road to send a message can cost their companies $1.50 per minute, and the driver risks having his or her pay docked. Clayton Boyce, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, called the bill "overkill," going so far as to say that banning such devices "won't improve safety." But safety advocates counter that the measure would effectively be underkill, and they have some stats to back up their argument: Heavy trucking deaths in the U.S. have steadily climbed over the past decade, as big rigs now account for 12% of all highway fatalities (4,808 deaths in 2007) versus 11% (4,777) in 1997 - in spite of the fact that passenger cars and trucks are now far safer than they have ever been.

Americans like low prices, and fast, efficient shipping helps keep costs in check. And at the same time, we like to be safe and sound as well, and truckers looking down at a keyboard while driving a 40-ton truck 60 mph just a few feet from strikes us as hazardous to our nation's health. Should truckers be able to text and use computers while driving? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section after the jump.

[Source: The New York Times | Image: Joe Raedle/Getty]

Semi-Dangerous? Truckers group says texting while driving is safe, necessary originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>computer usageComputerUsagenavigationtext messagingtextingtexting while drivingTextingWhileDrivingTextMessagingtruck driverstruck safetyTruckDriverstruckerstruckingTruckSafetyTue, 29 Sep 2009 13:58:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19177901/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/09/29/semi-dangerous-truckers-group-says-texting-while-driving-is-saf/19177901/article-detail.xml 19177901 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/09/trucker-keystrokes-getty-630_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/09/trucker-keystrokes-getty-630.jpg <![CDATA[Transportation Secretary LaHood calls for September 'distracted driving' summit?]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/06/report-transportation-secretary-lahood-calls-for-september-dis/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/06/report-transportation-secretary-lahood-calls-for-september-dis/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/06/report-transportation-secretary-lahood-calls-for-september-dis/#commentsFiled under: ,



A recent study from Virginia Tech showed that texting while driving makes you 23 times more likely to get into a crash and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is looking to address the problem head-on with a September summit to study distracted driving. LaHood plans to to use the summit with law enforcement, safety advocates and transportation officials to come up with a series of concrete steps to curtail distracted driving. The Los Angeles Times reports that LaHood would like to ban text messaging, though the Secretary says enforcement and education is key.

The Senate is already looking at the possibility of a nationwide ban on text messaging while driving. Since states typically mandate such laws, the federal government is looking to enact a set of restrictions that states will have to enforce, or risk losing 25% of their federal road improvement funding.

While a ban of text messaging would likely curtail such behavior, we're wondering how such a law could be properly enforced. It would likely be difficult for officers to know definitively if a driver was text messaging while driving, unless the phone is confiscated or phone records are checked. Of course, the same could also be said for areas in which talking on the phone while driving is illegal (without a hands-free device), and we haven't heard of any major legal challenges issued on that front.

[Source: The Los Angeles Times | Source: Michael Smith/Getty]

Transportation Secretary LaHood calls for September 'distracted driving' summit? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>distracted drivingDistractedDrivingray lahoodRayLahoodsafetysenatetext messagingTextMessagingThu, 06 Aug 2009 09:30:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19120448/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/08/06/report-transportation-secretary-lahood-calls-for-september-dis/19120448/article-detail.xml 19120448 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/805278-620op_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/805278-620op.jpg <![CDATA[Most Americans want texting-while-driving banned, but admit guilt]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/07/most-americans-want-texting-while-driving-banned-but-admit-guil/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/07/most-americans-want-texting-while-driving-banned-but-admit-guil/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/07/most-americans-want-texting-while-driving-banned-but-admit-guil/#commentsFiled under: ,

A recent Harris Poll found that an overwhelming 91% of Americans think it's unsafe to text message while driving. In fact, they think it's just as bad as driving after a couple of drinks, and 89% even think it should be outlawed. But that didn't stop a full 57% of them from admitting that they have still done it.

The same Harris Interactive survey -- commissioned by Pinger, Inc., a messaging service -- found that 66% of adults surveyed read their text messages or e-mails while driving. The survey also found that younger drivers, not surprisingly, were much more likely to TWD. So far only Washington state has passed a law banning texting while driving (TWD), although New York, California and Florida among others are considering similar legislation.

[Source: Reuters]

Most Americans want texting-while-driving banned, but admit guilt originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>text messagingtexting while drivingTextingWhileDrivingTextMessagingTue, 07 Aug 2007 20:02:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/959921/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2007/08/07/most-americans-want-texting-while-driving-banned-but-admit-guil/959921/article-detail.xml 959921 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/08/texting_while_driving_legislation_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/08/texting_while_driving_legislation.jpg <![CDATA[OMG! Washington first state to ban text messaging while driving]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/14/omg-washington-first-state-to-ban-text-messaging-while-driving/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/14/omg-washington-first-state-to-ban-text-messaging-while-driving/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/14/omg-washington-first-state-to-ban-text-messaging-while-driving/#commentsFiled under: ,

If you're travelling down I-90 in Washington State and texting your BFF on a CrackBerry, then you might want to put it down. Washington has become the first U.S. state in the union to ban text messaging while driving. The legislation against driving while texting (henceforth to be known as the dreaded DWT) was rolled into a similar measure against talking on one's cell phone without using a hands-free device, a regulation many cities and states have already adopted.

Washington Gov. Christine Gegoire signed the measures into Washington state law last Friday (she was reportedly flanked by children injured from car accidents involving cell phone distractions). Like many laws of this sort, the po-po can't pull you over if they spot you Twittering away in the driver's seat. You need to be caught doing something worse, like swerving across the center line, to get pulled over. If Officer Roscoe P. Coltrain spots a warm Qwerty riding shotgun though, you'll likely be nailed with a $124 fine. If that happens, you won't be LOL.

[Source: Seattle Times]

OMG! Washington first state to ban text messaging while driving originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 May 2007 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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