New ad campaigns are being produced every day to turn our attention to the issue of texting and driving. Texting and driving kills people in this country nearly every day, and the issue will not go away until we see technological advancements that allow for an end to texting and driving. There are advancements in the works that could put an end to texting and driving, but these advancements have not seen their way into new cars just yet.
#1: The Luxury Market
You can watch motoring shows that feature beautiful new cars that are extremely expensive. Nice sports cars made by some of the finest manufacturers in the world have VSAT technology that allows drivers to connect their phones to the car. The car will make calls using voice recognition, and the driver never has to take their hands off the steering wheel.
The simple technological advancements made by the largest luxury car brands in the world are not yet in the mid-range cars that people are buying every day. There are many drivers who must pick up their phones to make a call on the road, and these drivers are in just as much danger as drivers who are texting while driving.
#2: Texting Applications In Cars
Applications that would allow drivers to send texts using voice recognition are found on some cell phones, but these applications are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The technology may work for one driver who happy to leave their phone in their lap, but there are other drivers who find voice recognition too hard to use.
The luxury carmakers of the world will figure out how to put voice recognition for texting in their vehicles, but the newest cars on the market do not have this technology. It could be several years before these have the technology needed to stop texting and driving, and it is possible that cars the general populace drives may need to wait over a decade for this kind of technology.
#3: Advertising Works Up To A Point
The shocking advertising used to show the effects of texting and driving will work up to a certain point. There are drivers who take these ads to heart, but there are many other drivers who will turn away in horror. Someone who turns away in disgust will likely hate the ad because it is so graphic. The assumption is that an accident like that could never happen to you, and the drivers will go on texting as if they are invincible.
There needs to be a balance struck between the graphic nature of the ads and their content. The ads could show less gore as if they were an auto insurance comparison, but the ads will have the desired effect. Convincing a younger generation to stop texting while driving will cut down on accidents on the road, and the younger generations will teach their children to avoid texting and driving.
#4: Someone Will Always Buck The Trend
There are drivers on the road who will never catch up with the times they live in. These drivers will continually text and drive assuming they can do it safely, or these drivers could be injured in accidents. These accidents will continue to happen to a small percentage of the population, and people who cannot afford to buy new cars will be left without the technology that prevents texting and driving in most cases.
#5: When Will We See An End To This?
There will be an end to texting and driving on the road on the whole when technology catches up with driving habits of the population. You cannot expect to see phones leave vehicles at all, but phones can be relegated to the dash where they will be connected to the car itself. The car will control the phone, and the driver can keep their eyes on the road at all times.
There will be an end to texting and driving on the road on the whole when technology catches up with driving habits of the population.
A combination of advertising and technology will cut back significantly on the number of accidents caused by texting and driving, but we must wait at least a decade to see these things in action. The finest carmakers in the world have not figured out how to stop texting and driving, and it will be several more years before every other carmaker can copy the new technology.
Educational advertisements like the commercials that show the gory aftermath of auto crashes will only help so much in the fight against texting and driving. There are plenty of drivers on the road who will not see these ads, not take them seriously or undervalue their message. You can stop texting and driving today, and you can tell your children to stop texting and driving. The real test comes when the carmakers of the world figure out how to prevent drivers from sending a text before the car ever gets started.
Additional Resources:
http://www.autotrader.com/car-news/5-optional-car-safety-features-likely-to-become-standard-193429