A Simple Solution for Distracted Driving

The Wall Street Journal:

Someday soon, cars may drive themselves, and perhaps we will be better off for it. Until then, driving remains a human task, subject to fundamental limits on our ability to pay attention. The National Safety Council estimates that in 2013 alone, 1.1 million crashes involved using a phone, and the Transportation Department counted more than 3,000 deaths and 400,000 injuries caused by distracted driving that same year.

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Driving Mode will be useful only if people use it, and various insights from the behavioral sciences can increase the chances that they will. It must be easy to turn on, ideally with the flick of a physical switch, or at least with as few taps as possible. To minimize the social pressure that we feel to respond immediately, Driving Mode should automatically send a customizable “I’m driving now” reply to texts and calls and hold your messages until you arrive. This feature is also on Windows 8 phones, but it belongs on the other 97% of phones, too.

Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal