‘If Lives Are in Your Hands …‘
What if your surgeon decided to do a little text messaging while you’re there on the operating table? That’s the (rhetorical) question posed by short-filmmaker David McDonald, recently honored for the...
View ArticleBubblehead wants you — to stop texting
The usual sights on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles include famous street signs, beautiful sunsets, colorful graffiti — and plenty of law-breaking distracted drivers: SUV owners yakking on cell phones;...
View Article$2.4 mil for Calif., Del. enforcement
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood unveiled a “Blueprint for Ending Distracted Driving” that includes $2.4 million in funding for enforcement in Northern California and Delaware. LaHood’s plan...
View ArticleHerzog revisits texting tragedies
The “sequel” to Werner Herzog’s stunning short films about the ravages of distracted driving has debuted at a running length of 35 minutes. “From One Second to the Next” visits with those whose lives...
View ArticleN.Y. signs off on ‘texting zones’
New York is setting up “texting zones” on state thruways and highways, with rest stops, Park-n-Ride lots and the like doing double duty as safe harbors for text messaging. Sorry, no cyber cafes or...
View Article‘Close to Home’: Social-media tragedy
The latest video from AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign against distracted driving shows the consequences of a mom’s glance at a smartphone image posted to social media. In slow motion or full speed,...
View ArticleIndiana license plate: ‘Put the Phone Down’
We’ve all seen the bumper stickers that urge motorists to get off the cell phone and drive. Now there’s something a bit more official. Indiana now has a sponsored license plate with the bold message:...
View ArticleAd firm tries to bury distracted driving
A new low in advertising? Never say never, but that Toronto billboard encouraging motorists to drive distracted is in fact a public-safety message. “Text and drive,” the stark billboard urges in all...
View ArticlePokemon game raises distraction fears
Safety officials are trying to stop a wave of distracted driving caused by the “Pokémon Go” game before it starts. Warnings have been issued in numerous states about hazards presented by the “virtual”...
View ArticleSave a life hack, simplified
Ontario has dispatched a round-mouthed announcer to promote the “save a life hack.” The guy can’t even pronounce “algorithm,” but wonders: “What if the solution isn’t more technology, it’s less … ”...
View ArticleOregon’s new distracted driving law in force
A comprehensive rewrite of Oregon’s distracted driving law is now in effect. Targeting various ambiguities in the old law, the new rules focus on the holding of “mobile electronic devices” such as...
View Article‘Zaadii’ comic hails child killed by distraction
The too-short life of a child killed by a distracted driver is being honored with a superhero comic. The Travelers Companies commissioned “Zaadii: The Legend of Z-Hawk,” and it was unveiled via New...
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