A technology that automatically puts in-car calls on hold when driving conditions become complicated could help prevent road accidents.
Researchers found that their system significantly reduces the risk of crashes while driving. According to the US’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) if a driver uses a mobile telephone it impairs their reaction time to the same extent as a blood alcohol level of 0.08 per cent – the legal limit in both the UK and the US. Most States in the US have laws banning the use of handheld phones while driving and over 50 per cent have forbidden new drivers and school bus drivers from using any type of mobile phone at all when on the road.
Microsoft Research in Washington, USA, used 18 pairs of volunteers and a driving simulator to investigate their system. While one of the pair drove across a virtual route, the other spoke to them via a speakerphone. The route featured “complications” such as heavy traffic, road works and busy pedestrian areas. When in these parts of the route the system would cut in with an audio alert to both the driver and caller and if they failed to stop speaking to each other, the call was placed on hold.
Shamsi Iqbal and Yun-Cheng Ju of the project found that with this system in place the number of errors made by the drivers reduced significantly, from once every 1.4 minutes to once every 7.1 minutes. This rate is even lower than the control group of drivers who were not on a call at all. The results were presented at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2011).
The technology is still in development with the aim being a system that can continue to monitor speed and location with GPS and compute potential risk based on prior statistics. These statistics are being provided by the NHTSA and local government bodies. Eventually the technology may be incorporated into a mobile app to make it accessible to a larger number of people.
Image courtesy of North West Air Ambulance on Wikimedia Commons. Thumbnail image
Other Elements articles in which you might be interested:
What people are saying