Tag: Road safety

And the top Distracted Driving Apps to help with it.

As some of you know, I am kinda big on driving safety. When I started my Master of Public Health my main focus was on sexual and reproductive health but the world was asking me to look at another public health issue- driving safety. Notice I didn’t say road safety. Getting involved in driving safety was a direct result of what I was witnessing every day in my neighborhood. And it wasn’t the roads, it wasn’t the weather, it wasn’t the school’s transportation policy, it was human behavior. Today I continue to research on what drives people to engage in risky, careless or dangerous driving behavior and the best, evidence-based practices to stop it.

Some quick facts to give you context. Florida is ranked number 2 in the United States for pedestrian fatalities according to the Governors Highway Safety Association Report for 2019

Florida holds 7 of the top 20 metro American cities with the highest fatalities for pedestrians. The Tampa Bay Area is 4th in the nation!

Smart Growth America recently published their latest Dangerous By Design Report and the results aren’t good. Pedestrian fatalities are up, by a lot. While this report focuses on road design to increase safety, distracted driving behavior is one problem we can’t design our way out of.

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So if you knew nothing about these statistics in Florida but live here, I am sure you have had at least one near crash incident as a pedestrian, cyclist and/or driver.

We are all guilty of it…

Bottom line. If you have a smart phone and/or an intelligent, smart vehicle loaded with a gigantic dashboard, you have probably engaged in distracted driving at least once. It’s very easy to judge the person who is texting on their phone and the reason you couldn’t get through the green light. But based on what I am hearing, the reasons for distracted driving may sound pretty well, reasonable and common to you.

• I only answer my phone when my child or husband/wife/girlfriend/mother are calling me.
• I look to see who is calling or texting, and if it’s not from someone important, than I don’t answer or text back.
• I only use my phone for the navigation app.
• I only use my phone to change the song on my playlist.
• I only check my phone when I am at the light.

Whatever the reason, on average it takes a person 5 seconds to look at their device.

But 5 seconds doesn’t seem so bad, right? Try it. Close your eyes for 5 seconds while sitting at home or work (desk job) and imagine not looking at the road for those 5 seconds.

Now would you want the person behind you or at the intersection light doing that while they are driving? No.

So far in my research, what I am hearing is that people, in general:

1. Don’t see looking at their phones as dangerous. They only perceive danger when they text back while driving.
2. People don’t think talking on their phone while driving is dangerous. Even though cognitively multi-tasking reduces a person’s ability to concentrate on one specific task
3. Most don’t perceive their in vehicle screens, calls and navigation systems as high risk distracted driving behavior
4. Justify taking calls and texts when they are from close family members, partners and work (even though the majority of their calls or texts are from these same people)
5. AND……………………………mostly are using their phones while driving for………………………………music. That’s right. Changing a song, changing a podcast, putting on music. etc.

And my research isn’t the only research that shows this. Parnell et al, (2020) also found that the top technologies that drivers interacted with and initiated were:

1. music
2. navigation
3. calls
4. texts

The top notifications they engaged with were:

1. calls
2. texts
3. navigation

Parnell, K., Rand, J. & Plant, K. (2020). A diary of distracted driving behaviors. Transportation Research Part F., 74, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j/trf.2020.08.003

So what can you do?

There are a lot of things you can do. First, and foremost. You need to make a commitment to yourself. Checking our phones constantly is so embedded in our culture and engrained in our brains that this is no easy feat. So I am giving you some tips below.

“Hey Baby. if you love me, let me drive safely so I can get back to you sooner.”

1. Tell your loved ones not to call you or text you while they know you are driving. If it’s an emergency, they need to call you three times in a row, otherwise it can wait. If they love you, they won’t want to endanger you, which is exactly what it does.

2. Offer to help when someone is driving. My child is my designated music changer. He is also my navigator. I am teaching him skills at the same time and staying safe. If you are in the car with a friend, offer to text for them, or look up directions. This is a lot easier than telling someone you are uncomfortable with them driving distracted but also let’s them know its not acceptable behavior to you.

3. Make a commitment to not use your cell phone while driving. This could be as simple as putting your purse in the trunk, your phone in the glove compartment, setting a playlist or podcast for the exact drive time of our journey, or setting your smart phone to Driving Focus. Using one of these apps or techniques below before you start the engine can potentially save your life and someone else’s and greatly reduced your susceptibility of being involved in a minor or serious vehicle crash.

4. Talk to people. Let your teenagers know that music, GPS and talking with all their friends in their car is just as dangerous as texting while driving. Tell your work that if you don’t pick up immediately it’s because you needed to pull over first. Ask your girlfriend not to get upset if you don’t text back immediately. Culture is hard to change but you could be the start of something that will start a rippling effect.

Keep reading below for smart phone applications that are recommended from various sites, but also I have started a list of features that can be used.

5 Driving Safe Apps according to Germania Insurance

1. OneTap. Blocks calls and texts. Sends automatic message AND parents with teens can monitor the app with theirs.
2. EverDrive. Rewards you and promotes friendly competition for the doing the right thing. Good app to share with friends to help with “social norming”.
3. AT&T DriveMode. Above 15 mps it silences calls and texts. Not ideal if someone is actually going the speed in a school zone of 15 or less. Have to be a customer for the app to respond to incoming calls and texts. Good for parents of teenagers on an AT&T family plan.
4. DriveMode. Different from the others. Helps the driver respond to a phone’s functions in less time by offering voice activated commands for navigation, texting, etc. as well as large buttons.
5. Do Not Disturb Feature. This is one I have been using for a while. A lot of people do not know that there are ways to enable it, without missing important messages and calls, as well as a one-time setting change for just when you are driving. Of course, this isn’t much help when it comes to playlists and navigation systems on your phone while driving.

Here are others not mentioned in the above. ** means it was mentioned two or more times across multiple articles.

Farm Bureau Financial Services.

• DriveMode**
• EverDrive. This one is unique in that it also tracks braking, acceleration, speed, cornering and cell phone use. A little safe competition.
• LifeSaver.** You can get weekly reports for employees and family members. Free. Android and ios.
• TrueMotion Family.
• TextDrive. Specific to all you Android users. Free.

American Safety Council

• AT&T’s DriveMode**
• Drive.Safe.ly**
• Sprint’s Drive First
• Sprint’s Safely Go
• Text No More
• Canary

Other mentions.

• DriveSafel.ly.** Not free. Voice freehand.
• Sprint’s Safely Go. Ability to lock app on a minor’s phone.
• Text No More. Get free coupons and its free. Instead of automatically detecting when you are driving, you set driving time for blocking incoming calls and texts. If you have a hands free device, you can still receive incoming calls.
• Canary**. This app will actually alert you if your teenager is texting while driving and preset speed limit.
• DriveSafe**. Android. Emergency mode turns off blocking if call comes in 3 times in a row from the same person.
• HUM. Helps you track the driver location, speed, acceleration and vehicle health.

Am I missing a great app or suggestion to help yourself or another? Let me know in the comments! You could potentially save a life. And please share! Research is no good if it does not get into the hands of those who need it. Drive safe everyone!