Comments on: Texting While (Not) Driving

By: spiderleggreen

spiderleggreen — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:03:47 +0000

I could see a whole lot of the explainations above being true, but I’m hoping that the reason is that more kids are riding bikes. Cars are soooo 20th Century!

By: Vin

Vin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:54:14 +0000

I think there’s probably some truth to all of these explanations. Graduated licensing programs are the simplest explanation and probably account for the substantially higher declines among 16 and 17 year olds. For 18 and 19 year olds, another reason could be the increased numbers at four-year colleges. College towns are frequently compact and walkable, and many campuses have limited parking. So that could have something to do with, too.

Now that I’m thinking about it, it seems the “digital revolution” is the least likely reason. I suppose the internet makes it easier to telecommute and shop at home, which has some impact. But “I’m not going to drive because I can’t watch YouTube.” Is my generation’s (I’m 25) attention span REALLY that bad?

A preference for urban living amongst twentysomethings probably has a lot to do with it. Teens with overzealous parents who are willing to drive them around may play role, too. But I’m always suspicious when someone says “now we have the Internet, so we no longer need to x (where x could be driving, or reading books, or interacting face-to-face).”

By: townmouse

townmouse — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:15:42 +0000

I wonder whether the decline is also related to the decline in independence among children, and the willingness of parents to (continue to) drive them everywhere.

By: Erik Wood

Erik Wood — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:46:58 +0000

I decided to do something about teen distracted driving after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me last fall by a texting driver. That incident changed me but I don’t hate texting. The way I see it, that would be like hating nightfall – 72% of teens text every single day - some over 3000 times a month. The texting drivers I spoke with, including teens and truckers, all said that laws and Big Brother type software devices that “lock down” their phones would not deter them at all. They feel their civil liberties slipping away. So I built a tool called OTTER for the individual to help manage their texting on their terms.

OTTER is a comprehensive text management system for the home, office and certainly, the highway. It has GPS based Parental Control Feature for teen drivers, a GPS Mode for adults who choose to use it and an Auto reply with unlimited customized responses. We are getting 4.5 to 5 star rating from the tech community and great response from teen groups and safety organizations. We have heard of teens and business people alike using OTTER to schedule their own “texting blackout periods” so they can get some focused work done without feeling disconnected from their social network. If a someone uses OTTER like this, then we think they will see the benefit of OTTER’s road safety features. We are not going to stop until change hits our roads and not just our laws.

Best,
Erik Wood, owner
OTTER LLC
http://www.OTTERapp.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_yS0V21CFg

By: hokan

hokan — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:27:29 +0000

I’ve been seeing this with my kids and their friends. None of my kids (ages 17, 19, and 22) and few of their friends has a license. They view a car as expensive and car ownership yet another hassle in a complicated life.

A combination of bike riding, transit, and hitching a ride with family or friend seems to do for them.