Hands free doesn’t mean attention free. It’s becoming common knowledge that cell phone handsets cause drivers to become distracted, and an increasing number of states are prohibiting their use for talking, texting, and other activities while behind the wheel, but are the voice-controlled gadgets that have been replacing them any safer, or are they simply creating a new high-tech way to take focus away from the road? Some experts are now saying that it is equally dangerous to talk to a dashboard as it is to speak to a cell…
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Innovative new technology provides new methods of encouraging road safety
Auto insurance industry eyeballs new technology to help with distracted drivers Many people believe that they are safer drivers than the average motorist, but this overconfidence in their ability can actually cause some people to be more dangerous on the roads than their skills require them to be. These individuals often feel that they are very good drivers, but that it is others who are the road users causing accidents. However, true road safety is dependent on the behaviors and decisions of individuals who understand the strengths and limitations of…
Read MoreFlorida legislators mull over ban on texting while driving
Florida lawmakers are considering a new legislation that would ban texting while driving. The state’s Legislature has been staunchly opposed to such laws in the past. Last year, a similar proposal did not survive the legislative process, as it was seen as a “silly law” by lawmakers. Insurers are torn on the subject of banning texting whilst driving as there is little evidence that suggests the ban would make the activity safer. This time, however, the opposition against the bill seems to have vanished. Senate Bill 416 has not been…
Read MoreStudy shows texting behind the wheel sends insurance rates skyward
4AutoInsuranceQuote.org, and online car insurance quote service, has released the results of its study that has shown that the texting behaviors of drivers are causing insurance rates to rise. The research showed that when drivers receive citations for texting while behind the wheel, or when they are in an accident that is associated with the use of a mobile phone or device, it causes his or her monthly premiums to increase. Further to this information the study determined that the number of accidents that have involved fatalities and that were…
Read MoreCalifornia is the state with the fourth toughest consequences for texting behind the wheel
InsuranceQuotes.com has released a list of the ranks of the states that have the toughest consequences for texting while driving, and California drivers came in fourth among the ten hardest hitting. The Austin, Texas-based InsuranceQuotes.com is an organization that provides comparison quotes for insurance policies over the internet. It performed the review of the bans that have been put into place in Washington D.C. and 35 of the states. Their news release reported on the company’s examination of the penalties and fines that are issued to drivers who are caught…
Read MoreCar insurance survey shows the impact of driving while distracted
A new survey published by Online Auto Insurance has highlighted the dangers of distracted driving among Americans who talk or text on cell phones, and pointed out that more than one in every three drivers do it regardless of this fact. Car crashes resulting from distracted driving behaviors are responsible for tens of thousands of lives each year and cost billions of dollars in lost property. Even the collisions that are less extreme that result from mobile phone use while driving can make it difficult for drivers who are at-fault…
Read MoreNew anti-texting law in New York has doubled traffic tickets for drivers
According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a new law in that state that has banned texting while driving has lead to the doubling of the number of traffic tickets related to that activity. August represented the first full month since the law was passed in New York, and its police wrote 1,082 tickets to drivers who continued to use their mobile devices for texting while driving. This number of issued tickets was over twice the amount that were written at the same time in 2010. Within the first half…
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