driving

Wed
06
Jun
John Lister's picture

Driver Fined for Using Apple Watch

A Canadian woman has been fined for looking at an Apple smartwatch while at traffic lights. The court ruled it should be treated the same as checking a smartphone screen. Victoria Ambrose was fined $400 CAD (just over $300 USD) for breaking local ... laws on distracted driving. A police officer noticed that she failed to move when the lights turned green and was instead looking at her watch, only moving when the officer shone a light at the car. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) She did not dispute that report, but said that she looked at the watch solely to check the time. She said it may have looked as if ... (view more)

Wed
07
Jun
John Lister's picture

Apple to Disable Phone Features for Drivers

Apple is to introduce a safe driving mode to stop drivers being distracted by their phone. The mode aims to maximize safety without taking all usability away. The changes follow a lawsuit against Apple by the parents of a child killed in a car crash ... . The driver responsible for the crash had been using FaceTime video calling while driving at 65 miles per hour. The parents said Apple shared some responsibility, as it had developed technology to prevent FaceTime from working in a moving car, but chose not to use it. The new mode will debut with iOS 11, an update that will be distributed to the ... (view more)

Tue
11
Apr
John Lister's picture

Police to Use Hybrids as Pursuit Vehicles

New York and Los Angeles cops may be among the first to use a hybrid electric car that is specifically designed for police pursuits. The Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan (pic) aims to meet the twin needs of police vehicles: an occasional ... high-speed pursuit mixed in with a whole load of waiting around. A hybrid car uses both an ordinary gas engine and an electric motor. The balance of the two varies between models but one common set-up is to use the electricity when the car is starting up or driving at low speeds, where the electricity is the more efficient option. Another common feature is ... (view more)

Thu
23
Feb
John Lister's picture

Self-Driving Cars Could Change Insurance Rules

The British government says insurers should have to pay out if a customer's self-driving car crashes, whether or not the human was in control. It's the latest in a series of legal questions raised by the technology. The government has published the ... Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill and will now try to make it law through the country's parliamentary system. If adopted, the rules would mean the government would legally classify cars as self-driving on a model-by-model basis. With any car that fits into this category, the legally-required insurance policy would have to be set up ... (view more)

Thu
26
Mar
John Lister's picture

GM To Debut 'Teen Driver' Programmable Car

General Motors is releasing a car with a series of features designed to reassure parents that their children will drive safely. It also lets them access reports about driving activity. The 'Teen Driver' system will debut in the 2016 Chevrolet ... Malibu. The system works by having multiple electronic key fobs: teens get their own set of keys which will automatically switch the system on when used. Teen Driver has two main elements. The first is monitoring, which allows the car owner to access a 'report card' about the activity while the teen was driving. This includes the total ... (view more)

Mon
28
Apr
Brandon Dimmel's picture

Automatic App Tracks Driving Habits, Fuel, Parking

A new electronic device promises to help drivers tailor their driving habits in order to save money on fuel. The device, which is called "Automatic" and developed by a company of the same name, plugs into your car's computer socket. Most cars have ... this type of socket if the vehicle was made after 1996. The socket connects directly to the car's onboard computer, and is typically located under the steering wheel, not far from the gas and brake pedals. Users then pair Automatic's hardware device with a special smartphone application that is compatible with both Apple's iOS and ... (view more)

Mon
04
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Driver Ticketed For Wearing Google Glass Specs

A California driver appears to be the first person ticketed for wearing Google's high-tech spectacles while behind the wheel. It's prompted a legal dispute about whether existing laws actually bar people from using the device while driving. Google ... Glass is currently undergoing national testing with a selected audience before it goes on sale. The gadget is similar to a pair of spectacles, but combines a small projector on the "lens", a microphone, an earpiece and a camera. The device also has an Internet connection. Though billed as a wearable computer, it's effectively a smartphone in ... (view more)

Tue
08
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

Drunk Driving Facebook Status a 'Joke,' Teen Says

An Oregon teenager involved in a hit-and-run crash was recently arrested for the deed. His arrest appears to have resulted directly from him bragging about driving drunk on the popular social networking site Facebook. According to reports, on New ... Year's Eve 18-year-old Jacob Cox-Brown of Astoria, Oregon, posted this as his Facebook status: "Drivin drunk ... classic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P" Facebook Message Prompts Investigation A long and complex sequence of events then followed: First, someone on Cox-Brown's 'friends' list sent the "confession" to Astoria ... (view more)

Mon
12
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Report: Texting while Driving on Increase, Despite Ban

It seems like we've seen a million studies conclude that texting from behind the wheel of an automobile is an extremely dangerous practice. Yet a new report suggests most Americans just haven't received the message. Even more surprising is that the ... number of people texting while driving has actually increased since most U.S. states passed laws to ban the dangerous practice, and to levy stiff fines on perpetrators. The new report comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which on Thursday (December 8th) announced that texting while driving has increased by a ... (view more)

Wed
23
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Report: Texting Makes You 6x More Likely to Crash a Car

Think you can multitask while driving? Think again. According to a recent report, drivers who use their cell phones to text while behind the wheel are six times more likely to crash their rides. "When people talk on the phone while driving they are ... four times more likely to get into an accident," says University of Utah psychologist Frank Drews. And thanks to Drews' last study, we now know texting behind the wheel means you're actually six times more likely to crash. (Source: com.au ) Studies Push Legislators to Act Talking on your cell phone while operating a vehicle has become illegal in ... (view more)

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