Do Not Let The Phone Drive

We all know that texting while driving is bad, yet we keep doing it.

Car manufacturers claim that they are trying to make it safer for us.

The truth is that they are doing the very opposite.

According to gigaom.com, Toyota and Mercedes are starting to include social media apps and features into the cars dashboard.

Facebook and Twitter alone are distractions while walking down the street, putting them in a car is the worst possible idea.

Is the convenience of having those applications on your dashboard worth risking your safety and everyone else’s?

As an avid car enthusiast, adding these extra features kills my enjoyment for driving.

Driving takes my mind off of everyday problems and distractions.

Putting apps inside of cars will not be convenient, but rather a nuisance.

Automakers are placing apps inside of cars just to sell more cars, and they are not thinking about safety.

A car makers goal is to create profit period.

The American Psychological Association stated that in a study that measured drivers’ reaction time to imperative situations, like braking at a red light, drivers who were on the phone reacted significantly slower than drivers who were not talking on the phone.

Whether it is talking on the phone or scrolling through your newsfeed on your dashboard, they are all a distraction.

Automakers fail to tell you this because their argument is backed by the very select few studies in their favor.

The participants in this study are fully aware that the vehicles are being watched by cameras and that they should do the best they can to drive smoothly.

Car commercials are playing on every single channel. I call that brainwashing.

That’s proof that car companies don’t care about your safety.

Car companies are just transferring your attention from one device to another instead of focusing on the road.

I have one solution to this problem.

Integrate a system to the vehicle where when the car is in drive, apps like Facebook and Twitter or the phone itself are inaccessible.

This could be made by connecting the phone via Bluetooth or USB.

That is the kind of feature that I know many people would appreciate especially parents of young adults who are in the increased risk for having a traffic accident.

Instead of enhancing our experiences on social media with convenience let’s think about safety. Not just the drivers’ safety but everyone around them.

Make them cut their social media consumption down to a minimum with this device.

Then maybe, just maybe, we can finally save millions of lives.