Cogosense Blog

Cogosense's Driver Behaviour Blog

Over-Connected and Behind the Wheel: A Summit on Technological Solutions to Distracted Driving

This month, we joined Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation) in Washington for a day of meetings focused on the distracted driving problem and technology solutions.

In addition to Aegis, panel attendees included Apple, Google, Samsung, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Toyota and GM. The videos of the three sessions can be found here -

  1. The State of Distracted Drivingb2ap3_thumbnail_senate-seal.png
  2. The State of Technology
  3. Where Do We Go From Here?

Highlights of the day included:

  • Universal agreement on the severity of the problem
  • Clear opinion from Senator Rockefeller that industry, in pursuit of technology promotion and profits, may have placed responsibilities to society and safety as secondary
  • This led to good debate regarding the benefits of technology in saving lives (ex. OnStar) and the challenges of restricting consumers' choice
  • Senator Rockefeller gave compelling arguments that it is our collective responsibility to offer not just "what consumers want" but products that are designed for safe and responsible use
  • While there are many stakeholders with varying interests, it was clear that there is substantial collaboration within the industry to continually improve solutions and accelerate market adoption

The event was very useful to advance the dialogue amongst the key constituents responsible for providing technology solutions and Aegis applauds the Senator's leadership on this important topic.

At Aegis we continue to work with the leaders in the mobile device, mobile carrier, automobile and insurance industries to advance solutions. With our pioneering partnership with the State of Iowa, we are also beginning to deliver solutions through State governments.

23069 Hits
0 Comments

New Study Finds Half of Distracted Drivers are Texting

A recent press release from the University of Washington finds that 8% of drivers on Washington state roadways were using electronic devices while driving and that half of those were texting.

b2ap3_thumbnail_UW-Seal.gif

The full study is expected to be published in October but joins a growing list of state initiatives to understand the problem of distracted driving and to take action to prevent distracted driving. The State of Iowa issued a comprehensive RFP in September 2013 to evaluate technology solutions aimed at young drivers within the state.

34821 Hits
0 Comments

Safety Versus Freedom

b2ap3_thumbnail_sn_badge_BR.png

Nathan Seppa, of Science News, authored an excellent article last week entitled "Impactful Distraction - Talking while driving poses dangers that people seem unable to see."

The article touches upon many of the important issues in the distracted driving market including:

  • Competing interests between (a) science which has clearly established the dangers of distracted driving, (b) individual freedom which resists the government imposing regulations and (c) legislation which attempts to balance the interests of safety and freedom
  • Psychology that individuals believe distracted driving to be very dangerous for others but safe for themselves
  • Dangers of handsfree usage and the absence of legislation dealing with such dangers

There are several excellent infographics included in the article including the one shown below related to tunnel vision (or distractions which draw attention away from the routines that would provide a good representation of the driving environment) and "inattentional blindness" (or looking at something and not seeing it because the mind is elsewhere).

b2ap3_thumbnail_Tunnel_vision.jpg.png

Download PDF

14901 Hits
1 Comment

Distracted Driving - What Is Your State Doing?

The GHSA (Governors Highway Safety Association) just released their 2013 Distracted Driving Survey of the States.

The main take-away is that there has been an overall increase in states enacting and enforcing laws and an improvement in data being collected compared to 2010 survey. Awareness continues to grow about the dangers of distracted driving, along with partnerships between public and private companies to help promote safety.

Download the survey report.

16646 Hits
0 Comments

Mobile Device Use Causes More Accidents Than Reported

Earlier this month, our partner, the National Safety Council (NSC), issued a press release announcing a white paper and infographic which they have published that describes the under-reporting of distracted driving accidents due to mobile device use.

b2ap3_thumbnail_NSC-logo-blog.pngThis is a critical issue because the official state records drive awareness, legislation, funding and solutions.

For our part, Aegis is advancing the knowledge of causality in motor vehicle accidents by working with corporations, government departments, insurance providers and law enforcement agencies to collect and analyze real empirical data. Such data will better inform our understanding of risk and prevention.

Interested organizations are invited to contact us to participate in data collection and analysis studies based upon Aegis' industry-leading software solutions for the prevention of distracted driving.

Let's all work together to make our roadways safer.

33092 Hits
0 Comments