Road sign detects cell phone use

I came across this article and a few things occurred to me.

home.bt.com...

"New road signs can detect mobile phones are being used in vehicles"

"Road signs that know when a mobile phone is being used in a moving vehicle are being installed in Norfolk, in a bid to tackle usage behind the wheel.

The system, which can tell the difference between active phone calls and other activities based on the strength of a signal and how long it lasts, flashes up a red warning signal to drivers when it detects a call."

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?

a reply to: Bluntone22

I think if it can be proven that what I'm doing while driving contributed to an accident, then it should be an at-fault accident. Just because someone else may not be able to talk on a phone w/o a hands-free device and I can shouldn't require me to adhere to a blanket rule.

Sure, I get that driving is a privilege and not a right, but I have no issue eating, drinking coffee, reading a map (pre-GPS), etc. while driving. The real credit goes to my wife (and probably most women), who can flawlessly apply make-up, especially eye liner, even while driving on pot hole infested roads.

a reply to: Bluntone22


Can it determine if your linked via Bluetoof to your car and using it hands free?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

"The system, which can tell the difference between active phone calls and other activities based on the strength of a signal and how long it lasts"

a reply to: Bluntone22


Right, I get that, but you can have an active call and be holding the thing up to your auditory orifice or have it linked via technology to your vehicle.

a reply to: Bluntone22

I carry my mobile phone in my pocket while driving.
I can bluetooth it to my car, but do not.

I'll look at the callers when I get where I am going.I wonder how many have been hurt by spam marketers and telesales people.
( what a job ! )

Just dont do it ...

😎

The big question is, can it discern between an active conversation and an attempted - un-answered call ?

Or as Mason mentioned; bluetooth conversations

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I would guess it could not tell the difference

a reply to: Bluntone22


Then it's useless.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Bluntone22


Then it's useless.

I guess it can,
From the article..

"The system is able to simultaneously detect bluetooth signals so that anyone legally in a call via their car’s speakers is not wrongly issued a warning"

a reply to: Bluntone22

So when you get flashed, startled and crash its YOUR fault?

a reply to: Cymru

If that makes you crash you probably shouldn't be driving

originally posted by: Bluntone22
I guess it can,
From the article..

"The system is able to simultaneously detect bluetooth signals so that anyone legally in a call via their car’s speakers is not wrongly issued a warning"

Alright then, it apparently does work.

originally posted by: Cymru
So when you get flashed, startled and crash its YOUR fault?

So when you see the roadside speed sign flashing '37mph' when you're in a 25mph zone do you drive off the road?

I don't, I just mash it to see how high I can get that sign up to.

This still doesnt answer the real question here.
Does using a phone really cause more wrecks?

I would think the bodies would be stacked like cord wood with all the phones in cars today but the deaths are actually down.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
This still doesnt answer the real question here.
Does using a phone really cause more wrecks?

I would think the bodies would be stacked like cord wood with all the phones in cars today but the deaths are actually down.

Honestly, you are asking that question and I'm not talking a handsfree type call.

Someome holding a phone with one hand and having a conversation while driving a car with the other hand..on a road..most likely with other drivers...most likely at some speed and you are asking if that is less safe then someome who isnt on a call?

I read somewhere that billboards were already picking up on cell phones.

Use a streaming media service? Your next commercial might be for the product you just saw on that 40' ad back there.

The depths these corporations will sink to know no bounds.

the obvious flaw is - passengers are permitted unlimited // unrestricted use of cellphones in a moving vehicle

a reply to: opethPA

Let's be totally honest here.

Cell phones are distracting.

But are they worse than smoking, eating, an unkenneled dog, changing radio stations, looking at the gps?

These laws are aimed solely on phones but not other distractions.

From the numbers I have found there isn't a huge increase in accidents after cell phones became the norm.

Can this fancy gadget tell the difference between a driver on the phone and a passenger on the phone?

I'll save you the trouble: no, it can't.

TheRedneck

what about if a passenger is using a cell phone, not the driver? In Australia camera's have been developed that can apparently determine if a driver is using a cellphone, either in their lap or at their ear. Hands free usage isn't illegal to my knowledge.
as far as if cell phone use leads to accidents - i haven't seen any statistics but driving down the freeway and passing people at 110km an hour and they're looking down in their laps texting makes you shake your head a little bit, and I see this pretty much every day. I got busted by the cops a couple of years ago talking on my phone whilst driving and was fined 220 dollars. I believe the current fine in some states is creeping towards the 500 dollar mark so the police are taking it seriously either as a life saving or a revenue raising measure...
But, as stated, if this system can't determine which person in the car is making the call or texting then I don't see how it can work.