Category: Tech News

For that inner geek in all of us, news looking at the technical side, with statistics and interviews to learn more about the technology that we use on a day to day basis.

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Distractions: Is Texting REALLY To Blame For Reckless Driving?

A debate in Florida has the senate and house quarreling over whether texting and driving should be ban.

As we reported earlier, studies report drivers that text are more likely to be in an accident, however Florida officials who are against the ban, say they are against the “silly laws” not the safety.

A study by the Highway Loss Data Institute shows, in fact, that accidents increased in states where bans were put up.

Subsequently officials both agree, “the problem stems from distracted drivers.”

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) defines driver distractions under three types.

  • Visual (Eyes of the road)
  • Cognitive (Minds of road)
  • And Manual (Hands of steering wheel)

Just Drive, a program designed by Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin did a survey to find the top five driving distractions.  They include,

The number one distraction to drivers is the radio, tape or cd.
Data collected from Froedtart & Medical College of Wisconsin

 

Additionally the report went on to say “90 percent of these distractions resulted in accidents, however 50 percent say, ‘they will not be giving any of these things up any time soon’.”

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Texting Extremities- Are We Putting Ourselves In Danger?

Let’s see if we can make our lives safer!

People text, but have we gone too far?  Are we so wrapped up in our conversations that we are missing what is going on in the world?  Texting is becoming the “way of life” as we reported earlier, and it’s so extreme that people have even coined the term, “Textaholics” as defined by Urban dictionary is simply described as one who is addicted to texting regardless of how rude it looks. Similarly, sleep disorders as well as texting while driving have came out in news reports, but could texting incidentally be dangerous?

Roughly 100,000 people living in the U.S use text messaging as a means of communication according to a study done by Cell signs on Verizon Wireless Customers.  Subsequently, the average age of texter is 38, however people from the age of 18 to 54 are found to text most often.

Rise in US text messages- Chart
A study down by cell signs.com shows the rapid increase in Text Message Users in the U.S

Stll, as we reported earlier from Mashable Tech, the average teen driver sends about 3,000 text messages a day.

What’s more is teen drivers admit that they are guilt of texting or emailing while driving.  A study recorded by an Infographics design team shows, while over half of all U.S. states have some form of texting laws in place, nearly 50 percent of drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 still text while behind the wheel.

The affects of what texting while driving can have as opposed to drinking and driving
The Governor’s Highway Safety Association shows the causes that texting while driving can do even when states have laws against it.

Ultimately the study determined that the individual caught texting while driving is 8 percent more likely to be involved in an automobile accident.

A chart from Infographics Showcase, asks the question, “Worried You’re A Phone Addict?”  The truth is for most of us we are addicted.  The chart shows, forty percent never turn their phones off and 83 percent sleep with the device next to them.  Other scenarios included in the chart are the use of phones in quiet places as well as work settings.

So here’s what we can do to improve our safety.

Above all, let’s try to put down the phones a little bit.  There are other ways of communicating.

  1. Visit the person if they are in the area;
  2. Write a letter (Yes, I mean snail mail); and
  3. IChat or Skype them (trust me, it’s a lot more personal than the TXTing. LOL)
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Communication In A Digital Age

Texting is the new wave in communication and is currently practiced throughout the world, especially among teens, as Shane Snow reports on Mashable.  With phones, such as the iPhone 4s, texting is clearly a must, but with all good things, there are positives as well as negatives.

Still, for many people, texting is a way of life.  Los Angeles resident, Roxana Jimenez says, “I text from the time I get up in the morning.  I get a good morning text from my brother, ‘til the time I fall asleep, around one in the morning.”

And then, there are the “textaholics”; People, who average anywhere from 500 to 1000 messages a day.  As reported by International Business Times, the average teenager in the U.S. currently sends or receives nearly 3000 text messages a month.” Edwin Moran of North Hollywood, Calif. says, “Texting is the way to go.”  He goes on to say that it is a cheaper way of communicating, however he doesn’t agree with kids having phones at a certain age, but it should be up to the parent to control the child’s texting habits. He says, “he believes if the child is home, the parent should take the phone away, but when they are out, they should be allowed to text.”

One of the negative results of excessive texting is the idea of sleep texting.  As reported in the Chicago Sun Times, “a small but growing number of cellphone users are reporting that they sometimes sleep text.”  The study by the Pew Research Center said this disorder is mostly found in teens and college students due to the fact that this age group texts more than other age groups.  Jovi Hinojosa, a resident in San Fernando, Calif., says, regarding sleep texting, “That could potentially be embarrassing because if you’re texting that boy or that girl who you have a crush on, saying something like, ‘I wanna marry you’.  They freak out and that could be embarrassing.”

Above all, most people say they text for convenience.  Ninette Amaya, another resident from North Hollywood says she texts mainly her close family at times when she cannot talk on the phone.

Ultimately texting is harmless, but Moran says, the real downside of texting is that by texting instead of talking, there is no real connection with the person.  You can’t see what the person’s reaction is to a joke, for example.  All you have are the words and that’s not good.