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Road sign detects cell phone use

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posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 09:03 AM
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So it can do Bluetooth (range of 10m or 32’ btw so I have serious doubts on that). But can it differentiate between a driver and a passenger on a call? Or a call on speakerphone?

Going to say useless money grab and since you cannot cross examine the “witness” unconstitutional in a court of actual law.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 09:06 AM
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a reply to: Bluntone22

That's irrelevant BS (from the article). I can tell you with absolute certainty that unless you put what amounts to a Faraday cage around each lane of traffic and then monitored signals inside that RF shielded environment you could NEVER tell which vehicle it was. Even then you might not be able to do it, if there was more than one vehicle inside this shielded environment at a time.

Now, let's contrast that (above) with a single detector, placed on the side of the road. You have minimally 3 lanes of traffic coming at you. One guy is yammering away in his Mercedes, phone up to his head. Another guy is talking on his hand-free BT setup in his pickup in an adjacent lane with his phone in his back pocket on a metal backed seat. Who's going to get popped?

The guy in the Mercedes, right? NOPE! It will be the guy in the pickup. Every time. Here's why...

The Mercedes has an RF attenuated windshield, so signals only propagate out of the sides and back of the vehicle (I'll explain how I know this in a second). The truck on the other hand does not have this same kind of attenuation, and even though his total radiated power is less because of the location of his phone, his detected signal will be 2-3x as strong as the Mercedes (the real offender).

One of my projects a while back was to implement an RFID vehicle identification system for about 60,000 vehicles. We used transponders inside the vehicles and the most convenient location to place these is on the windshield (because they're a sticker similar to a toll tag). On many higher end vehicles there is only a small section of the windshield which is not RF attenuated, and you have to go to the manufacturer to find out where this is, by vehicle type and manufacturer. Most are in the upper left corner of the windscreen. (Think Mercedes, Audi, Lincoln, etc, etc.).

In any case, I like the idea, but in practice it will never be enforceable. It will wind up just like speed radar (i.e. not enforceable if you have half a brain for a defense). It's why law enforcement had to switch to lasers.


edit on 7/11/2018 by Flyingclaydisk because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 09:11 AM
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Trying to catch people talking is great but putting on makeup and smoking while texting and reading the newspaper and various other combinations. I won't go into sex while driving but that never really distracted me to the point of wanting it to stop.




posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 11:40 AM
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originally posted by: Bluntone22
Now this is being sold as an attempt to keep our roads safe. A noble cause indead.
But are the dangers of cell phone usage exaggerated?

I did a two minutes Google search for some stats and the results are kinda interesting.
This covers deaths in crashes.

www.iihs.org...

The stats start in 1975 and go to 2016.
There was 39k wrecks in 1975.
Then 37k wrecks in 2016.
Deaths didn't deviate much either.
The numbers bounced around in the years between but not drastically.

I'm having trouble finding not fatal stats to compare. There are more cars on the road today than 40 years ago and higher speed limits so the numbers should be higher but I'm still looking.


Opinions?
In my opinion that's a terrible attempt at statistical analysis, with all due respect of coarse.
Comparing the number of deaths to car crashes for the years 2016 and 1975 would be just about as useful as comparing the same due to cell phone use, not many cell phones in '75. The standard safely features of cars today are night/day comparison to cars from the 60's-70's. Our roads are better, safer and our cars handle so much better, breaking steering...etc. And of coarse there are other factors involved I'm sure.

How about how many car crashes due to cell phone use?

The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.

Nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.

1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.

Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
www.edgarsnyder.com...
There are many more statistics in that link.


Some people are very good at multitasking but I assure you that the more time you spend your focus away from driving the greater the chances you will have of being involved in an accident.

There is no way we will ever do away with cell phone use while driving any more than eliminating driving under the influence. Perhaps what we need are autonomous cars so we can text and drink or drink and text, although I don't recommend texting under the influence.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 11:55 AM
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a reply to: Devino

I didn't claim any conclusions.

I mearly pointed out that there has not been a major jump in collisions or deaths since the use has increased by leaps and bounds.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 12:14 PM
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originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Devino

I didn't claim any conclusions.

I mearly pointed out that there has not been a major jump in collisions or deaths since the use has increased by leaps and bounds.

Since the statistics you linked were on fatalities and not collisions then we don't know if the number of crashes have increased or not. Nor do we know the number of fatalities, or collisions, that have been reduced due to safety features, visibility and road conditions. This may very well have been greatly decreased yet offset by distracted drivers.

I'm sure there are numerous factors in doing an accurate analysis of the question you're asking and I wouldn't expect you to do all the research necessary. My point was that there is a much easier way to answer your question whether driving while texting/talking is dangerous and contributes to, increases the number of, injuries/fatalities due to collisions. And the answer to that is a resounding Yes!

Add; According to your link there were 37,461 fatalities in 2016 due to motor vehicle collisions. Now lets compare that with another stat on the number of motor vehicle collisions the previous year.

In 2015, there were some 6.3 million fatal, injury, and property damage crashes that occurred in the U.S. alone.
www.statista.com...
Quite the difference!
How many of those were due to drivers distracted by their cell phones?
What was the total number of collisions in 1975?
edit on 7/11/2018 by Devino because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 12:23 PM
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a reply to: Devino

I totally agree that cell phones contribute to car wrecks.
Any distraction while driving would definitely make people crash more often.

I question whether or not it is more distracting than a GPS or playing with a radio or eating a hamburger.

With all the cell phones today there should be a huge increase in collisions.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 12:40 PM
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originally posted by: Bluntone22

I question whether or not it is more distracting than a GPS or playing with a radio or eating a hamburger.
You forgot "making waffles". It's always nice to bring your 12v waffle iron on those long trips.




With all the cell phones today there should be a huge increase in collisions.
My guess is that there is. We just need to find to the correct statistics that can reflect a potential increase, or decrease. I also think that annual statistics would show changes in collisions due to cell phone use laws and awareness.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 12:48 PM
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Easy way to beat getting caught ??? Don't use it. It's the same with drink driving. As a new driver to the roads of the UK I've already got a hate for anyone using their phone I've already had a few near misses due to people using their phone. I shouted at one guy to get off his phone and he just stopped his car and attempted to run after me



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:19 PM
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a reply to: Bluntone22

So passengers can't use the phone?



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:29 PM
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a reply to: OccamsRazor04

It's just a warning light at this point.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:31 PM
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a reply to: Bluntone22

so how do the road signs detect if you're not the drive and using your phone?



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:33 PM
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a reply to: Bluntone22

LOL, a flashing red light out of nowhere....not at all distracting.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:38 PM
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a reply to: Bluntone22

Then what's the point?



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:52 PM
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a reply to: jjkenobi

Simy put...they can't! Making this all the more laughable!

This whole subject is a giant ruse.

P.S. I've got some oceanfront property in Kansas if anyone is interested!



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 01:53 PM
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a reply to: OccamsRazor04

If you figure it out let me know cuz I haven't figured it out.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 02:09 PM
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originally posted by: ignorant_ape
the obvious flaw is - passengers are permitted unlimited // unrestricted use of cellphones in a moving vehicle


This was my first thought as well. How does it tell if the driver is using the phone or someone else in the vehicle is using the phone?

As far as the questions "Does cell phone usage really cause more crashes"? There's a ton of data on this. It's not so much the act of talking, but what is being discussed. If it's relatively benign conversation, it doesn't have that much of an impact, but if it's an intense conversation or something that requires you to think hard, it can take away focus, increase your reaction time, etc. Whether you're on bluetooth or not is really irrelevant in that equation.

The flip side to that though, is that this is true whether you're talking to someone on the phone or you're talking to another person in the car with you. So what now? Is talking while driving, even to people in the car with you, going to be banned?



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 03:28 PM
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Its going to be a legal minefield as if it can detect BT then its pretty much going to be on the road side as that tech doesn't have much power and then its going to need a set of cameras to record to prove that it isn't your mate in the passenger seat taking the call for example!

Also its going to have to be a powered cell phone detector at least with data back link and you can just imagine the data protection and also the cost to push out the physical data network and generally for most places around the world once it hits the base station its auto decoded and then passed down some cable to the central hub.



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 04:15 PM
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I don’t think a cell phone is much of a distraction. As a private pilot, I fly th plane, look at the map, info on my knee board, play with the radios, and the transponder, all while holding altitude.

In my pick up, I talk on the hands free phone, make notes, and never spill a drop of coffee. Haven’t had a wreak that was my in 40 years or a ticket since 96.

What’s the big deal?



posted on Jul, 11 2018 @ 04:27 PM
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I seen enough drivers not taking attention while driving, the other morning at 8.15am a car jumped a red light from 40 feet away on a blind corner, if someone is driving recklessly and crashes then I believe they should be held accountable.

We have all driven and used our phone I am not advocating it but I would never want to be involved in a crash thru my own negligence.

Please everyone if you wish to drive in a manner which is , slighty risky, dont do it near me and my son, thanks




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