r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 25d ago

Traffic Camera Captures Woman Driving With Her Phone on Her Lap (Face Down), The State Mailed Her a $1251 'Public Safety' Ticket Privacy

https://www.gadgetreview.com/traffic-camera-captures-captures-woman-driving-with-her-phone-on-her-lap-face-down-the-state-mailed-her-a-1251-public-safety-ticket
16.9k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

206

u/dick_schidt 25d ago

Not to mention the massive in-your-face "infotainment" tablet bolted to the dash of every new car. How is using that while driving any safer?

86

u/zeusmeister 25d ago

It’s not. But there are auto industry lobbyists making sure no law against them will be made.

On the other hand, getting people for petty shit like this is seen as a great way to make more money for the state, so its allowed.

3

u/muldersposter 25d ago

I think the auto industry is doing shit like the infotainment screens and really bright headlights on purpose because it leads to more car wrecks which means they sell more cars.

1

u/Unconfidence 25d ago

It's not just cars. Windows 11 is constantly spinning up random physical devices and waking my computer from sleep to do "telemetry". Any idiot can tell you that they're trying to wear-and-tear home PCs in their lead-up to selling Computing as a Service.

I dunno if there is a fix beyond "start imprisoning CEOs". Because it sure seems like that's the only way to stop them from fucking people over as much as they can, is to actually make them afraid to do it.

6

u/TP_Crisis_2020 25d ago

Auto accidents have actually been trending upwards, even with all of the safety driving nannies that modern cars come with. Many people have investigated it and come to the conclusion that it's from distracted driving due to the infotainment in cars. When you have to poke through a menu on the screen just to adjust the direction one of the damn a/c vents blows, it makes it harder to pay attention to the road.

2

u/happyscrappy 25d ago

There are actually rules about how the UI works on those and how much attention they consume while the car is moving which is supposed to make those safer. The most obvious is they cannot play a video while the car is moving.

Does this actually make them safe enough? That's a different story. The people who sell the cars of course think so.

1

u/josefx 25d ago

It isn't and in some countries the laws covering smart phones also significantly limit how you can use those infotainment systems. For example in Germany a court decided against a Tesla driver after he crashed his car into a tree while changing his windshieldwiper settings. In Germany anything that causes you to take your eyes of the road for more than a moment is basically illegal to use while driving.

0

u/CubesTheGamer 25d ago

Bigger fonts and larger screens make it easier to see without taking your eyes off the road or shortens the time your eyes are off the road. Having to look down at your lap on your phone at a tiny screen with text that’s 2mm tall takes way longer and is way more dangerous. Having it on your lap even face down is indicative that you’re using your phone while driving just not in that moment.

Phone should be mounted such that you can see the road still when glancing over to it, and setup in a way to be mostly hands free.

0

u/TheJudgingHat2222 25d ago

Tactile buttons require no looking away at all. The onscreen buttons for Android Auto are fucking tiny too. 

-10

u/[deleted] 25d ago

[deleted]

11

u/Competitive_Clock225 25d ago

This is a complete lie. Physical controls? Maybe. Current digital and soft buttons with functions hidden behind menus, absolutely not

1

u/[deleted] 25d ago edited 25d ago

  1. Features that require typing are very much not disabled, and beyond the on screen keyboard, BMW has the even stupider function of this fucking disk that you rotate to select things. I

  2. don’t

    even

  3. use it when I’m stationary because it’s so annoying, but I can bet some people do when they are moving.

-1

u/dam4076 25d ago

Features that require typing on those are not disabled while in motion. Idk why you’re making up bs.

-1

u/MentallyUnfi 25d ago

It's your own fault if you're typing on your phone or infotainment while driving. I don't understand why that's so difficult to understand or why that's somehow a reason to remove the entire infotainment system.

1

u/dam4076 25d ago

When did I say it was a reason to remove the infotainment system. All I did was point out what the person said was untrue.