Though 2010 marked the first annual Distracted Driving Awareness Month, California did not participate in an official capacity. So this year, California is making an impact with a statewide... Read More
It is hard to think of any public safety issue that has received more attention over the last few years than the use of smartphones while driving... Read More
As technology continues to become even more integrated into our everyday lives, existing laws can become fuzzy when it comes to how emerging technologies should be treated. Case in... Read More
Famed director Werner Herzog’s powerful new documentary about texting and driving has already reached more than 1.5 million views on YouTube and is bringing even more attention to the... Read More
In the six states where texting and driving is still legal, employers are being placed in the unenviable position of having to discourage those driving on their behalf from... Read More
Texting and driving is against the law, but enforcing distracted driving laws is easier said than done. Last week in Fargo, North Dakota, police setup a sting operation designed... Read More
In a case that garnered national attention, a New Jersey judge recently ruled that the sender of a text message cannot be held responsible for accidents caused as a... Read More
Today U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a “Blueprint for Ending Distracted Driving.” His new initiative pressures 11 states that currently do not have distracted driving laws to adopt... Read More
According to an observational survey recently released by The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the number of drivers using cell phones while in transit jumped from 7.3 percent... Read More
Despite nearly all teen drivers saying they think it’s dangerous to text and drive, 43 percent continue to do it anyway. So, in an attempt to show teens the... Read More
Celebrities Amanda Bynes and Lisa Lampanelli both made headlines over the past couple days with reports surfacing they’d each been guilty of distracted driving. While Celebrity Apprentice and frequent... Read More
With Tax Day fast approaching, it might pay to take a few deep breaths, squeeze a stress ball, or do whatever else calms your nerves before hopping in a... Read More
Despite proposing guidelines for in-car technology back in February, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t plan to address voice controls until at least 2014. However, in the meantime,... Read More
A new study released earlier this week by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that teenage girls are twice as likely as teen boys to use cell phones... Read More
Modern life is increasingly full of diversions, and some have even crept into the drivers’ seat—phone calls, text messages, on-board video displays, fast food—all can cause accidents by distracting... Read More
The latest technological rumor circling search engine giant Google is that they’re developing a pair of glasses that can stream real-time information to the wearer’s eyes. This type of... Read More
Does integrating a 17-inch monitor into the dashboard of a car make the vehicle safer or just provide the driver one more giant distraction? Regardless of the answer, automobile... Read More
Over the past week there has been significant press surrounding SecuraFone, a new distracted driving app designed to deny users access to their email or text messaging if the... Read More
Finding street parking can be a massive headache. Drivers circle the block repeatedly; slowing to a near crawl whenever a space looks like it might be available, all while... Read More
Much has been said about the best ways to curtail distracted driving as a result of cell-phone use. Most agree that some combination of public awareness and legal enforcement... Read More
The short answer to the question above is a definitive “no.” With the rise of technology, distracted driving has become a serious problem on US roadways, contributing to nearly... Read More
How great would it be to drive to work without having to think about accidental low-speed car accidents? For years now, car companies have been researching collision avoidance systems,... Read More
Automaker Ford has rightfully been praised in recent weeks for supporting New York legislation to ban distracted driving. This week, the auto giant became the first of it’s industry... Read More
As part of the new advertising campaign for this summer’s Pixar animated film Cars 2, Disney has released a public service announcement that warns about the dangers of distracted... Read More
Everyone knows that distracted driving is dangerous. There’s simply no safety replacement for staying focused on the road at all times. But when it comes to improving road safety,... Read More
As we’ve learned in past weeks, May is an important month for traffic safety nationwide. May marks National Bike Month, Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and National Youth Traffic Safety... Read More
As Distracted Driving Awareness Month comes to a close this week, it’s helpful to look back at what lawmakers and safety advocates have accomplished over the past few years,... Read More
No one ever said the law was simple. That’s a tense subject for Silicon Valley Mercury News columnist Gary Richards, who penned an editorial yesterday on California’s “confusing” distracted... Read More
When it comes to distracted driving, laws have come a long way in a short time. Just two years ago, states were just starting to ban handheld devices, and... Read More
With the rise of distracted driving, cell phones are often cited as villains that facilitate dangerous driving practices. But while distracting phone calls, text messages, and games are certainly... Read More
Since it’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month, we’ve been writing a lot about efforts to curb distracted driving here in California. Statewide, 225 local police agencies have teamed up with... Read More
Based on preliminary data, the Department of Transportation estimated last week that 32,788 people were killed in car accidents in 2010, the lowest number in more than 60 years.... Read More
As April and Distracted Driving Awareness Month rolls around, you can expect safety advocates and lawmakers to discuss the many dangers of distracted driving. But despite reports that distracted... Read More
For years, the California Highway Patrol has done a fantastic job keeping our roads safe from dangerous drivers and reducing vehicle injuries and fatalities. That job has grown more... Read More
April is distracted driving awareness month, which means that safety advocates and lawmakers will put the issue front and center, trying to find a solution to eliminating distracted driving,... Read More
With just about every driving-related sector trying to make distracted driving less prevalent, is dashboard Facebook access necessary? Clearly, no. But that’s the newest development in a distracted driving... Read More
Just about everyone knows that distracted driving is dangerous, but almost no one knows how to stop it. Technology is only growing more prevalent, and although cell phone and... Read More
Lawmakers, cyclists, and safety organizations nationwide traveled to Washington DC this week for the annual National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists. In past years, the... Read More
Consumer Reports is absolutely killing it when it comes to distracted driving coverage. Last week, I reviewed their April edition, in which Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, a tireless... Read More
Like drunk driving and wearing a seat belt, avoiding distracted driving is becoming more and more of a no brainer. The Department of Transportation has reported that there were... Read More
Distracted driving has become a major problem nationwide, killing approximately 5,500 people and injuring nearly 500,000 each year. For that reason, safety advocates, policy makers and scientists have adopted... Read More
Since Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made reducing distracted driving one of his top priorities, the dangerous practice has been the subject of heated debate among safety advocates, policy... Read More
In the past year, public opinion has nearly coalesced around the fact that distracted driving is dangerous and should be eliminated. But what about distracted walking? A new law... Read More
At this point, just about everyone is on the anti-distracted driving bandwagon. Safety advocates, major celebrities, cell phone companies and more have joined Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to... Read More
As part of its ongoing campaign to assess pedestrian safety, the Governors Highway Safety Association has released preliminary data from each state regarding pedestrian fatalities in 2010. Based on... Read More
Over the past year, the national consensus about distracted driving has solidified as safety advocates, cell phone companies, and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, agree that it is a dangerous... Read More
The fight against distracted driving started with parents who had lost a teenager to the dangerous practice. Soon, the fight picked up steam, earning high profile supporters like talk... Read More
A report released this week in the Journal Traffic Injury Prevention found that over the past five years, the United States has enjoyed the greatest decrease in car accident... Read More
Did you make any new years resolutions this winter? For the driving safety parent, cutting down on your child’s use of cell phones behind the wheel is a great... Read More
Due to the increased likelihood of drunk driving and adverse road conditions, winter holidays always carry an extra risk of car accidents. This year, warns the auto advocate AAA,... Read More
Distracted driving is not just dangerous and thoughtless. It’s also a major crime when associated with the most terrifying circumstances. On September 15, 20-year-old Ani Voskanian caused an accident... Read More
It’s not a good sign if your city’s police officers are getting in distracted driving car accidents. That’s the case in Portland, Oregon, where police officer Ty Garrison struck... Read More
The insurance industry is at it again. Addressing the fact that distracted driving causes more than 6,000 deaths and 500,000 injuries each year, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has... Read More
We spend a lot of time on the GJEL blog discussing distracted driving and the implications of the dangerous practice on a large scale. Since distracted driving contributes to... Read More
In July, Iowa joined the 30 states that have boosted highway safety by enacting laws against distracted driving. Iowa police cannot impose fines on drivers who disobey the law... Read More
Over the past year, Internet giant Google has grown closer to developing a car that can drive itself. The company, which has overseen seven cars traveling more than 140,000... Read More
Last week, when Insurance Institute for Highway Safety president Adrian Lund doubled down on past criticism of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's anti-distracted driving campaign, I hoped LaHood would respond.... Read More
As elected leaders, transportation officials, and safety advocates converge in Washington DC today for the second annual distracted driving summit, the level of impact existing anti-distraction laws have had... Read More
It's a big week for raising awareness about the dangers of driving while distracted. On Friday, AAA and Seventeen Magazine teamed up with the Department of Transportation to urge... Read More
In an odd policy statement this week, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety criticized the government for focusing too much on distracted driving and unintended acceleration, and ignoring more... Read More
This past week, tech blogs have asked an important question for the future of distracted driving: why haven’t we mastered the technology to make cell phone use behind the... Read More
San Francisco isn't the only region cracking down on distracted driving this month. Here in Contra Costa County, California Highway Patrol officers have cited more than 300 drivers this... Read More
Gearing up for its second annual distracted driving summit in September, the Department of Transportation has teamed up with Seventeen Magazine and AAA to sponsor a contest to promote... Read More
It's slowly becoming an undisputed reality that distracted driving is dangerous and state governments should ban the use of hand held devices behind the wheel. Calling for more research... Read More
New and improved laws against distracted driving are popping up nationwide. This is partially thanks to the statistical consensus that talking, texting, and typing while driving has a significant... Read More
Last week, Wisconsin joined the 23 states in the battle to ban texting, typing, and talking while driving a car. "It is a situation in which technology moves... Read More
On Friday April 30, television superstar Oprah Winfrey lent her powerful voice to the fight against distracted driving in celebration of "No Phone Zone Day." Oprah has been chronicling... Read More
For the past few weeks at GJEL blog, we've been focusing on distracted driving bans limping through state legislatures across the country. The movement is also picking up steam... Read More
Toyota recalls aside, the debate on distracted driving has been the month's most compelling consumer issue. Over the past few years, eight states have banned the use of cell... Read More
We wrote yesterday about the proposed hands free phone law currently languishing in congress. A set of key democrats think the law would drastically reduce vehicular deaths, but the... Read More
