>>TEXTING WHILE DRIVING HAS BECOME A BIGGER PROBLEM, WITH
THE NUMBER OF BOTH CAR WRECKS AND LIVES LOST CONTINUING TO GO
UP.
WE HAD SEEN YEARS AND YEARS OF LOWER NUMBERS OF TRAFFIC
FATALITIES, THEY HAD BEEN GOING DOWN BECAUSE THEY WERE PEOPLE
ARE DRINKING AND DRIVING, CARS ARE GETTING SAFER, AND YET ALL
OF A SUDDEN NOW YOU SEE THE NUMBER OF WRECKS GOING UP.
MANY
PEOPLE BELIEVE IT HAS TO DO WITH DISTRACTED DRIVING THROUGH
THINGS LIKE TEXTING AND DRIVING.
THERE IS A PENDING LAW IN NEW
YORK AIMING TO CURTAIL SOME OF THIS RISE, ESPECIALLY IN THE NEW
YORK AREA, AND WE WILL TALK ABOUT THAT AND THE TECHNOLOGY
THAT IT RESTS ON, BUT FIRST I WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM WE HAVE TO ADDRESS --
>> THAT IS LITERALLY MILLIONS OF
PEOPLE AT ANY GIVEN TIME RISKING
AN ACCIDENT FOR THEMSELVES, RISKING PLOWING INTO A
PEDESTRIAN, HITTING ANOTHER CAR, AND WE SEE THAT DAMAGE ALMOST
EVERY DAY --
>> AND YET PEOPLE DO IT LIKE IT
IS NOTHING.
I HAVE TO BEAT THIS
LEVEL OF CANDY CRUSH, THAT IS A TEXT, I HAVE TO RESPOND.
THEY
DON'T REALIZE THE RISK THEY ARE TAKING.
I TALKED ABOUT TRICKING
WHILE DRIVING, THERE IS A LOT OF OVERLAP HERE --
>>THEY HAD PEOPLE DO THIS WHILE ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE --
>>WOW.
>>THREE TIMES WORSE THAN
DRINKING WHILE DRIVING.
AND IT
TOOK SO LONG FOR OUR SOCIETY TO ACCEPT HOW DANGEROUS DRINKING
WHILE DRIVING COULD BE, AND IF YOU TALK TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND
TELL THEM THAT WAS SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE, PEOPLE WOULD FIGHT
AN ATTEMPT TO REGULATE IT, THEY THINK YOU ARE CRAZY BECAUSE
EVERYONE ACCEPTS IT IS DANGEROUS TO DO THAT.
AT THOSE SAME
PEOPLE, THEY ARE CHECKING THE NEWS AND INSTAGRAM WHILE THEY
ARE PLOWING DOWN THE ROAD, NOT REALIZING THAT IN A VERY REAL
WAY THEY ARE EFFECTIVELY GOING BLINDFOLDED, IN MANY CASES DUE
TO THE REACTION SPEED LIMIT, THEY ARE GOING BLINDFOLDED FOR
THE DISTANCE OF A FOOTBALL FIELD AND THEY DON'T REALIZE IT
BECAUSE THEY ARE IN THIS CAR WITH 30 AIRBAGS.
IN A LOT OF
CASES THEY WON'T BE HARMED IF THEY GET IN A CRASH, ALTHOUGH
UNFORTUNATELY MANY NEW.
THAT IS THE PROBLEM, LET US TALK ABOUT
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS.
THERE IS A NEW YORK BILL THAT WOULD RELY ON
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED BY AN ISRAELI CORPORATION --
>>
OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE PRIVACY CONCERNS --
>> THEY WOULD NOT EVEN NECESSARILY KNOW WHAT
APPLICATIONS YOU HAD BEEN USING, IT IS SIMPLY TRACKING HAD YOU
BEEN USING THE PHONE AT ALL?
AND THE REASON THAT IS NECESSARY IS
THAT THERE HAVE BEEN RECENT STUDIES SHOWING THAT THERE ARE
ATTEMPTS TO SHOW WHETHER PEOPLE HAD BEEN USING THEIR PHONES AND
THAT IS WHAT RESULTED IN A CAR CRASH, UNFORTUNATELY THE WAY
THEY FIGURE OUT IF IT WAS USED IS VERY OFTEN BY ASKING THE
DRIVER, WERE YOU USING YOUR PHONE?
THE DRIVER IN A LOT OF
CASES IT SAYS NO, BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO BE RESPONSIVE FOR
THE CRASH.
>>I THINK THERE ARE WAYS TO SOLVE THIS THE DON'T RELY ON
TECHNOLOGY THAT I HONESTLY THINK IS AN INVASION OF PRIVACY.
I
DON'T CARE WHAT ARS TECHNICA'S ANALYSIS OF THIS IS, I DON'T
WANT TO HAND OVER MY PHONE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.
BUT I AGREE
THAT THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE.
AND IF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS
ISSUE COULD BE WORSE THAN GETTING DRUNK AND THEN GETTING
ON THE ROAD, THEN I FEEL LIKE THE PENALTIES INVOLVED SHOULD BE
JUST AS SERIOUS AS DRINKING AND DRIVING.
AND I THINK AS SOON AS
YOU DO THAT, PEOPLE WILL TAKE IT A LOT MORE SERIOUSLY AND THEY
WON'T DO IT.
BECAUSE I WILL BE HONEST ABOUT MYSELF AND MY OWN
BEHAVIOR, I AM GUILTY OF THIS.
THE MORE YOU TALK ABOUT IT, THE
MORE I REALIZE I AM AN IDIOT AND I NEED TO STOP DOING IT, BUT
PART OF THE REASON WHY I DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY IS BECAUSE
RIGHT NOW IT IS JUST A CITATION.
A CITATION SUCKS BUT I FEEL LIKE
IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD IF I GET A CITATION.
I DO FEEL
LIKE IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD IF I HAVE TO SPEND THE NIGHT IN
JAIL OR IF I HAVE TO SPEND $10,000 ON GETTING AN ATTORNEY
AND DEFENDING MYSELF.
THAT IS THE CASE WITH DRUNK DRIVING.
SO
I HAVE NO PROBLEM INCREASING THE PENALTIES ASSOCIATED WITH
TEXTING AND DRIVING, I JUST DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP MORE OF MY
PRIVACY.
>>AND THERE ARE OTHER WAYS YOU COULD TRY TO GO ABOUT THIS.
THERE ARE VARIOUS THEORIES ABOUT HOW YOU CAN HAVE CELL PHONES BE,
IN TERMS OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS, DISABLED WHILE THE
CAR IS MOVING.
I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT WOULD WORK.
THE SOLUTION TO
THIS, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IS NOT TECHNOLOGY, BECAUSE THAT CAN
BE CIRCUMVENTED.
YOU HAVE TO GET PEOPLE TO REALIZE WHAT A PROBLEM
IT IS.
IT HAS TAKEN DECADES TO GET PEOPLE TO REALIZE THAT YOU
CAN'T DRIVE DRUNK.
A LOT OF PEOPLE STILL THINK THAT I HAD
TWO DRINKS, THAT WILL BE FINE, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE STILL DIE AS
A RESULT OF THAT.
PEOPLE NEED TO ACCEPT HOW DANGEROUS IT IS.
THEY
NEED TO PLEDGE NOT TO DO IT THEMSELVES, BUT I DON'T EVEN
THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY THAT WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING.
YOU HAVE TO MAKE A STAND WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLE DOING IT.
IT
DOES NOT WORK WHEN THEY ARE IN A DIFFERENT CAR BECAUSE IF YOU SEE
SOMEONE TEXTING AND DRIVING AND TRY TO SAY SOMETHING, YOU WILL
SEE HOW STRONGLY PEOPLE WANT TO PROTECT THEIR ABILITY TO TEXT
AND DRIVE.
I ALMOST GOT HIT BY A WOMAN A WHILE BACK AND I SHOUTED
TO HER, YOU SHOULD NOT BE USING YOUR PHONE, AND SHE FLIPPED ME
OFF.
IT DID NOT MATTER THAT SHE ALMOST POTENTIAL KILLED PEOPLE
OR KILLED HERSELF OR WRECKED HER VEHICLE OR OURS.
WHEN YOU GET IN
A CAR AND YOU SEE SOMEBODY USING YOUR PHONE, TELL THEM, I AM NOT
DRIVING WITH YOU WHILE YOU ARE DOING THAT.
THE SAME WAY YOU
WOULD IF THEY ARE HOLDING A BEER BOTTLE WHILE DRIVING.
IT WILL BE
DIFFICULT TO PUSH PAST THAT UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING, BUT YOU
HAVE TO DO IT BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY DYING EVERY DAY
BECAUSE OF THIS.