Technology Must Prevent Texting While Driving, Say Doctors
Distracted Driving Ryan Harvey via Flickr Cellphones are responsible for a quarter of all accidents in the U.S. Texting is particularly bad, since it serves as both a mental and visual distraction. One study found that texting makes an accident up to 23 times more likely. Enough is enough--we need to do someting, argue a father-son team of Canadian doctors, who wrote an editorial in the British Medical Journal arguing that PSA's and education not be enough. Instead--paradoxically--technological fixes may be necessary, write Montreal physicians Dr. Barry Pless and son Dr. Charles Pless. Gadgets and apps that "nudge" people toward safer driving could be the best hope to solve the problem. These could include software that prevents texting while driving, set as a factory default, as well as automatic messages telling callers that the recipient...