Oklahoma motorists might be interested in learning how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is attempting to combat the problem of distracted driving. The federal agency has proposed guidelines related to cellphone usage in an attempt to decrease the rate of drivers who use those devices while behind the wheel.
One way the NHTSA believes such usage can be controlled is by pairing cellphones with a device within the vehicle that would block the visual interface of the phone while the car is in motion. Pairing would only allow for emergency calls and emergency notifications to go through. The benefits, the NTHSA argues, would be that drivers would be prevented from looking down to use their phone while driving.
For those using phones that cannot be paired, the NTSHA suggests a driver mode that would lock out features such as manual text entry, the displays of photos and videos, except for maps, and other functions that are not intended for use while driving. Because it is currently impossible to determine if a driver or passenger is using the phone, the mode would be set manually, though the NTSHA hopes that future technology will be able to solve this.
Distracted driving is a factor in many car and truck accidents, particularly as a result of inappropriate cellphone usage. Occupants of other vehicles that are involved in a semi truck collision often suffer catastrophic injuries due in part to the overwhelming size and weight of big rigs. Personal injury attorneys representing people who have been harmed in such an accident could review the truck driver\’s cellphone records to see if the phone was being used at the time of the collision.