What is the penalty for texting while driving in New Mexico?
Distracted driving is a modern epidemic, claiming the lives of nearly 4,000 people annually, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Distracted driving is defined as engaging in any activity that diverts your attention from driving, including eating, talking on the phone, and, most commonly, texting. Texting is considered the most dangerous form of distraction because it takes your eyes, hands, and attention off the road for several seconds—long enough to cause a major accident. Our New Mexico automobile accident attorneys discuss some new technologies designed to stop drivers from texting while driving and save lives.
Derive Teenage Driver
One of the newest anti-texting while driving devices was developed by Derive Systems, an automotive technology company. The device is called Derive Teenage Driver and it is marketed to parents of new drivers to allow them to block their teen from texting while driving. The device plugs into your car’s diagnostic port. It allows parents to disable texting while driving, as well as other phone functions. The device can even limit the vehicle’s speed.
Teen drivers are perhaps the most notorious of distracted drivers. Today’s teens are glued to their smart phone devices, even while behind the wheel. When you combine driver inexperience with texting while driving, and often speeding, the results can be catastrophic. Anxious parents will no doubt flock to the Derive Teenage Driver device so that they can help prevent their teen from being injured in a crash.
The “Do Not Disturb” Feature
Derive is not the only company that has incorporated the end of texting while driving into its mission. Apple has recently announced that it has created a “Do Not Disturb” mode on its phones. Apple phones will be able to detect whether the phone’s user is driving. If the user is driving, the phone’s screen will lock and all notifications will be switched off.
Several apps are also on the market for Apple and Android users alike that will allow you to set your phone to driving mode, thereby disabling texting and other functions. While technology has long been viewed as a cause of distracted driving, with the help of some innovative thinkers, technology could become the key to ending texting while driving.
Posted in: Automobile Accidents