From next month it will be an offence to hold and operate a
mobile device while driving. While Simon Moores agrees this is a
good thing, he admits technology is not entirely to blame. Many car
owners have long been convinced of their ability to multitask when
they are behind the wheel.
On an old PC which is gathering dust in my attic, is a
Microsoft Windows CE presentation from more than five years ago,
which shows how mobile computing will revolutionise our
lives.
This was in the days before the Palm and The Pocket PC, but
Microsoft, in conjunction with Ford, imagined that today’s Focus or
Mondeo would have e-mail and Outlook as part of the car’s
entertainment system as the stereo and, perhaps, the mobile
phone.
But mobile phones and PDAs became portable gadgetry and we found
we no longer needed a separate and expensive mobile telephone
number for the car.
Where driving is concerned, I rarely use the car, preferring my
motorcycle and all the risks that go with it. No congestion charge,
reliable parking and predictable appointment times. I also use my
mobile phone, hands free, of course, and only to take calls, which
invariably cause me to pull over because of the noise or shout,
“I’m on the bike – talk later."
On 1 December it will become an offence to hold and operate a
mobile device while driving, or to use a device, even if it is
fixed in a cradle, for sending or receiving data. This finally ends
the dream of in-car and on-the-move communications because it
includes e-mails, text messages, picture messages and accessing
ComputerWeekly.com on the internet. Try using your phone without a
hands-free kit in a manner that interferes with the proper control
of the vehicle and you can be fined £30 and charged with careless
or dangerous driving.
From a London motorcyclist’s perspective, this isn’t such a bad
idea as you have to develop a sixth sense for dealing with mobile
phone users. Normally, these are very easy to spot. Approaching
from behind and even without seeing the driver, there is a definite
signature to a person’s driving when they are on the phone, from a
slight telltale weaving to an almost complete loss of
attention.
To be honest though, as a society, we have now taken our cars so
much for granted that there is no end to what we will try to do in
them while we are driving.
I have seen people eating their breakfast with both hands and
drinking hot coffee, and using the rear-view mirror to apply
mascara in the fast lane of the motorway. More unusual, but
steadily increasing, is using a laptop keyboard while overtaking,
watching TV, making notes with the hand which isn’t holding the
mobile phone and using the elbows to steer.
The list appears endless and, from the direct experience of
knowing an IT director who drove his BMW into a motorway bridge,
each inattention kills on a regular basis.
If we leave aside the other habits, it’s the brutal pressure of
work and the 24/7 presence of technology, which is putting lives at
risk. The problem though, is that for a £30 fine, the government
isn’t going to change a collective behaviour other than make
drivers more circumspect about waving their hands around or
keeping their wireless laptops open on the passenger seat, which
will force them to turn their heads 90 degrees to the side to read
their e-mail while on the move.
The truth of the matter is that we are addicted to our
technology in a world where movement rarely exceeds 10mph in the
cities and frequently less on the motorways. The future is one
where we will find more communications and entertainment technology
jammed into tomorrow’s cars as people spend more of their time
trapped in their cars and living the miseries of the commuting
day.
What do you think?
Do you think the ban on using mobile devices while driving will
change people's behaviour?
Tell us in an e-mail >>
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Setting the world to rights with the collected thoughts and
opinions of leading industry analyst Dr Simon Moores of
Zentelligence.
Acting globally, Zentelligence (Research) advises
governments, suppliers, business and the media on the evolution,
application and delivery of leading-edge technologies and
specialises in the areas of eGovernment and information
security.
For further information on Zentelligence and its research,
presentation and analyst services visitwww.zentelligence.com