Cell Phone

The Florida Highway Patrol released a video this week showing a truck driver looking at his phone moments before he drove his truck off a highway overpass.

A truck driver in England was caught on camera using two cell phones while driving with his forearm.

Distractions aren't just for drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a warning to pilots last week that said the presence of technology, such as cell phones and tablets, in the cockpit could lead to mid-air collisions.

Apple has patented a system to select a navigation route based on the cellular network signal strength along the way.

Hyundai has a patent for a way to disable smartphone features, like calls and texting, by using specific software and antennas inside the vehicle. It can even limit these restrictions simple to the area around the driver's seat.

An 11-year-old girl from Arkansas is back at home after stealing $1,300 from her grandmother and taking a long-distance cab ride to meet a boy in Florida. Catching her wasn't too difficult, though. After her parents reported the girl missing, police found calls to the boy and the taxi company in her cell phone records, and they caught up to the vehicle in Georgia.

Recent studies have found banning cellphone use while behind the wheel is not leading to a decrease in accidents.

Partnering with Verizon Wireless, Delphi Automotive has released its Vehicle Diagnostics by Delphi product that allows drivers to to locate, track, secure, access and monitor their vehicle using a smartphone, computer or tablet. Touted as a first-in-class product, it works with most vehicles newer than the 1996 model year.

A British company is working on a new navigation system that doesn't rely on GPS satellites to track your location. BAE has created Navsop, a device that picks up errant cell phone, radio and television signals to deduce your coordinates, which means it can be used in locations where traditional GPS can't. For example, TV signals are substantially more powerful in buildings and below ground than GPS, which means Navsop could eventually help locate individuals in collapsed buildings or mines. It

Memorial Day weekend is one of the premiere road trip holidays. According to the American Automobile Association, more than 30 million people will hit the road this weekend, averaging 642 miles each. That means, for many, crossing state lines. And nowadays, that's more confusing than ever. Speed limits may vary, but at least those are posted. Cell phone laws, however, are much more confusing.

In case you're enamored with using your handheld devices while driving, or automotive connectivity in general, here's a cautionary reminder that, depending on your location, it may be illegal to use it.

It just makes sense. Cell phone usage causes accidents, so state governments and the National Transportation Safety Board should ban phone usage while driving, right? Not so, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. CNN Money reports that studies by IIHS show that phones may not be the issue.

With every state looking to enact (or having already passed) legislation that makes it illegal to operate a mobile phone while behind the wheel, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology and Rutgers in New Jersey are taking it one massive step further.

You may recall back in March a luxury phone designer out of Vancouver called Mobiado collaborated with Aston Martin on a concept device that featured a clear panel, all the gadgetry in the frame and keyless entry for Aston's GTs. That was unfortunately just a design study that, while intriguing, was never bound for production. But this one is.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that legislation introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives may ban drivers from even holding a cell phone while behind the wheel. The Safe Drivers Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY, aims to prevent all drivers from holding any mobile device while operating a vehicle by directing the Department of Transportation to enact standards to prohibit the behavior. McCarthy said that making phone calls, texting or using apps is just as dangero

The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking into a full-on mobile phone ban for commercial drivers while behind the wheel as part of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's initiative to curb distracted driving. According to Reuters, the move would further impact the four million drivers who are already forbidden from texting while driving.

We all know that driving while talking on the cell phone is a distraction. Even if you say you're a good driver with superior multi-tasking skills, blabbing on a phone while piloting a two-ton automobile is a quick way to show that you are in fact not smarter than a fifth grader. Don't let Jeff Foxworthy and his band of miscreants shame you, though... nearly all of us have done it in a moment of weakness. A recent survey of 1,000 motorists found that 90 percent believe that talking on the phone

A poll by Pew Internet, part of the Pew Research Center, has found that 27% of American adults admit to texting while driving. If the teenagers who answered the poll were all telling the truth, that means that more adults are guilty of TWD than teens, who came in at 26%. Even more damning for the Do As I Say, Not As I Do crowd: 44% percent of adults claimed to have been riding with drivers who became dangerous while using cell phones, and 17% of drivers admitted to hitting something or someone w

Wear your thumb socks – Click above to watch video after the jump

The NHTSA is combatting distracted driving – Click above to watch the video

Surprise, surprise. The National Safety Council just released a report saying that all cell phone use while driving – even hands-free – is potentially dangerous and "risky behavior." The study includes some pretty scary figures, including this one: At any time, 11 percent of drivers on the road are on their phones at the same time. Even worse, the NSC estimates that one out of every four automobile accidents occur because the at-fault driver was on the phone. The NSC combed over and

If you're truly worried about your teenager and what he or she might get into – or plow into – using a cellphone while driving, then perhaps you might find Cell Cease of interest. If your teen's phone runs on Windows Mobile and has GPS, Cell Cease will block the ability to make and receive most phone calls if it detects the phone is moving more than 5 miles per hour. Only 911 calls and an allowed numbers list will be able to get through otherwise.

Concerned that "gadgets and bells and whistles" are distracting drivers, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is reportedly pushing to keep the technologies out of driver's hands – without going so far as to say he'll try to restrict them. LaHood, who has already campaigned for a ban on hand-held texting and cell phone use while operating a moving vehicle, says he is "going to talk to the car manufacturers and see where this leads."