2-Second Rule for Distracted Driving Can Mean Life or Death

80 mph .. is an incredibly fast ( see: stupid) rate of speed even when one is in control of his vehicle in anything other than a well lit..straight desert highway..

I drive a Volkswagen (calm down, it is a gas TSI Golf) with CarPlay and you can do all you need to without taking your eyes off the road. Should you want, you can send a message to anyone in your contacts with a simple push of the mike button on the steering wheel. “Send a message” (Siri)Who do you want to send it to? “John Doe” (Siri) What do you want to say? “When is dinner tonight?” Siri confirms your message and asks if you want to send it. When your message is replied to, Siri tells you and you can have it read you the message. All while never taking your eyes off the road or hands from the wheel. Despite this, I commonly see people who have iPhones and cars/SUVs or trucks with car play holding the phone in their hands, texting away furiously. Every day. I also see people driving with the trademark white earbuds jammed in their ears. It is time to start putting points on people’s licenses and informing their insurance companies of their behavior.

This is so lame. Why aren't we regulating passengers to keep them from distracting the driver? The technology goal should be to make everything the driver wants during the trip readily available. Without taking eyes off the road. Just like listening to a back seat driver except the driver gets to pick the input.

I don't understand how touchscreens in cars can even be legal. It's distracting to have to look at a screen to change stations on the radio, turn heat, fan, and assortment of other functions on and off. It all takes eyes off the road. I want knobs and cranks again.

I have said many times that I hope my 22-year-old car outlives me. My scariest personal experience was a short trip a couple of years ago from my home to my car dealership to pick up my car after they'd worked on it all day. They have a free shuttle service by request. This was great until I realized that the young driver was reading his email on a screen in the car. This started as soon as we set off. I said he could either turn it off or let me out, and I would be calling his boss to send someone else. Since then I have feared being in a car anywhere near that kid or other drivers doing the same thing. I was horrified that car makers would do this.

As an engineer, I am frustrated since cell phone carriers can disable texting by the driver* based on use of accelerometers or other sensors in the vehicle, but they have not mandated this. It will take large civil lawsuit $$$ judgement before they see the light apparently. *Technical trick is to distinguish passengers from drivers which should be straightforward to tell in most vehicles, but in the meantime, why not block everyone in a moving vehicle from texting if it will prevent the driver from texting and save lives and injuries?

If only the Acura RDX had Android Auto in it. But it only has the iPhone product.

I drive a 2007 Honda Element and I love the fact that all of the controls for my car's audio and temperature controls are dials that you simply turn to set, or large individual buttons that you press, because of that it's natural after a very short acclimation period to be able to just reach over and make a minor adjustment essentially without taking your eyes off the road. Whenever I'm riding in a new car and I see the driver having to navigate an intricate series of touch screen menus just to adjust their AC, I generally speak up and say "Please let me do that so you can keep your eyes on the road.", I shudder to think how dangerous that is when they don't have a passenger and it makes me even more determined to hold on to my old car for as long as possible.

I occasionally drive a Volt company car, and while i love the near silent powertrain there is little other than changing the volume of the stereo that can be safely done while driving. Forget about finding a different radio station or changing from heat to defrost. The controls that aren't on the touchscreen are tiny and poorly labeled, and the instrument "cluster" is extremely busy with a lot of extraneous information. (I suppose I could dig out the manual and reprogram it, but the default should be just the basics-speedo, gas, battery guage)

I love driving. Many years ago my second husband, an over-the-road truck driver with a million safe miles under his belt taught me how to drive. First lesson—keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel. How many accidents I’ve avoided with those simple lessons I can’t begin to count! Years of driving a manual transmission has given me an excellent feel for the road. For many years folks have been taught that driving is boring and “drivers” can do so many other things to pass the time more effectively. The joy of driving well is something I look forward to whenever I get into my car. Try it sometime, see how it feels. And thanks, Jeff, for those instructive hours in our little Alpha Romeo Spider 2000!

I agree with the comments about touchscreens making it harder for people to adjust the temperatures, volume, radio station, etc. In my parents' new car, I often have to look quickly at the screen to choose whereas in our 10-yr. old Honda, I can do it by feel. Also, I'd remind people to remind others not to use their devices while driving. For example, if I see a family member futzing with their device while driving, I will literally take the device and hold it in my hand and remind them not to use it. I do a lot of teleconferences: if I get a hint a participant is driving while on a call, I will offer to have them call back later or will tell them I will call them later, after they've stopped driving.

Unfortunately, lower cost but popular vehicles like Corollas and Camrys will not get voice recognition improvements as quickly as high end vehicles. That's a mistake; there are many more of these vehicles on the road than Audis, Lexuses, Acuras and BMWs put together.

I drive a lot north of NYC. I am shocked by how many drivers can't stay in their lane and how many seem to have trouble negotiating twists in the road. I assume drunkenness or phone distraction. I think all these safety features are having the unintended effect of making drivers feels less concerned about sobriety and attention, because they think the car will basically drive and correct itself. On the Westchester parkways, I routinely find myself honking people who are straddling lanes or slipping over into the other lane. Maybe it's just elderly drivers. Usually, those cars are SUV's which are almost too big for a lane. I see lot of unnecessary braking. Drivers head of me braking at a slight bend in the road with nobody in front of them. I infer intoxication. My feeling is that safer cars mean drivers feel more emboldened to drive drunk 9as if the car will correct or compensate for any driver error). Give everybody a manual car with no driver aids, and you'll have more attention, less intoxicated drivers. Why no breathalyzer on the ignition?

I never understand when drivers look at me, the passenger, while they're driving. I appreciate eye contact during conversation but not when you are controlling over a ton of metal. Please keep your eyes on the road!

Has anyone suggested building a 'basic car' again? That is, a car that only has basic controls and instruments: steering wheel, brake, gas pedal, gearshift, blinker, windshield washer and speedometer? I suppose not. According to the article: "One thing that does not work is an appeal to common sense."

2 seconds off the road is way to long. Nothing more than a 'glance' should be followed.

While oddly Italian, my Maserati has these weird buttons on the back of the steering wheel that let you control everything. Downside: takes months to figure them out and every reviewer wonders what Maserati was thinking.

this is why self driving is the future

If only the safety geniuses could come up with a means to discourage or prevent tailgating. Every day, I see cars following only about a car length or two behind another at 75-80 mph. As the author's experience demonstrates, at that speed, the appearance of an object or sudden slowdown ahead often precipitates a rear-end collision. Try as I do to follow the 'one car length per 10mph' advice I was taught, this gap ends up an invitation for other cars to cut in front of me. Frustrating and dangerous.

I have a better idea. For which I will probably get skewered. Turn off personal devices and put them in the back seat. Most of the new cars have enough distractions without adding anything else!

One technology which greatly enhances safety is the "talking" GPS. Before it, I needed to refer to notes and/or maps to navigate which made looking away from the road necessary.

The incredibly badly designed and distracting dashboard on my three year old Honda CRV is a prime example of the danger of more than two second distractions in modern cars. For example, there are three ways to turn down the volume of the speakers, all of which are teeny little buttons to press rather than an analog knob which would not have to be looked at. Adjusting anything brings one through several steps. Even the mechanical accessories such as the signals, wipers and light adjusters are badly placed and overly complicated. I’m no Luddite- own several high tech devices, etc. Next time, I test drive the console much more carefully.

As a professional chauffeur, I could write a different article every week for a year on the many aspects of car safety and driving. Guess what? I've made (so far and - fortunately! - small) mistakes. Every year I learn to be a better driver. It is a never-ending task and now my life's work. Personally, I keep the Garmin where it does not block my view, that is, out of my line of sight through the windshield. Avoiding distracted driving starts with good visibility and many car models are deficient is this aspect of design. What else? Remember that your car is a heavy object in motion, subject to the unforgiving laws of physics. Expect the unexpected. Realize that bicyclists and pedestrians don't always follow the rules, make errors of judgment and - like you and other drivers - may just be having that rare bad day!

A big part of the problem are unnecessary naggy messages that will pop up while driving. Do we need to be asked again if we really meant to do something when we clicked on the button to do what ever it was we wanted to doin the first place? Is it really important that a message pop up telling us that a maintenance interval is due or our washer fluid is low while we drive down the highway? Every car I have ever owned has a gas gauge, I do not need a message telling me my fuel is low and helpfully offering to find a local gas station. This is just bad design probably motivated by lawyers and marketers

Film and TV directors must stop directing scenes in which actors in the front seat of a car carry on conversations with one another, taking their eyes from the road for well over 2 seconds. Drives me nuts!

The two second rule cleans out the unthinking from further distraction. That is remarkable efficiency by any standard. Keep up the good work.

An interesting case study is currently in play on Netflix. This is Jerry Seinfeld's show, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." Watch Seinfeld as he drives with his passenger/guest. He frequently turns his head to face the other and, astonishingly, often removes both hands from the steering wheel to gesture. While some of the scenes are while they are stopped, most are filmed while the car is in motion. They include freeway driving. I'm not referring to this show just to level a blast at Seinfeld, but to point out that distracted driving is so ubiquitous that it is seemingly taken in stride by the entertainment industry. People will watch the show and it will be: If Jerry can do it, so can I.

Go into any sports bar and take note of how many are transfixed by the tv screens. How can auto makers put data screens in the dashboard and expect drivers NOT to stare at them? As a cyclist, I've had drivers pass me head on with only inches to spare -and spotted them staring at the phone in their lap. Data screens of any kind should not be available to drivers. When the autonomous cars arrive, marketers will be delighted that we'll be free of distraction and able to shop that many more hours in the day.

It's very difficult for people to just do one thing for a long period of time. I think, having good audio options should really be enough to keep a driver from getting too bored on a long trip. But we live in an age now where the cell phone has become -- how can I say this? -- a virtual appendage, the all-consuming object of desire and attention.

The touchscreen method of changing radio stations in a moving vehicle requires the driver to look at the screen, navigate the station options, and guide a finger onto just the right spot. That's far more of a distraction than the old fashioned method of pushing one of the pre-set buttons below the radio dial which is tactile and therefore does not require the driver to look away from the road at all. Much safer!

"I had been looking at my wife for about four seconds before glancing back at the road. Had I just become a victim of distracted driving?" No. You're just a really bad driver.

I've always been puzzled by, (or to be honest, disdainful of) the type of driver who frequently looks at his/her passenger during their conversation in a moving car. Given that the passenger can hear the driver whether he looks at them or not, I've never understood how anyone would need to do this when what is going on in front of them is so incredibly important. One presumes it might indicate reduced intelligence or experience, but when I've seen the behavior it has tended to be among a random array of "educated" grown-ups. It's not unlike the person who chooses to text and drive by looking down and to the right at their phone repeatedly; If you're going to break the law in a dangerous fashion, at least reduce the risk to others and hold the phone in front of you so you can continue to, sort of, view what's going on the road. It is fortunate that no one was hurt or worse due to the author looking at his passenger. -I cannot imagine 4 disengaged seconds on the freeway.

The increase in vehicle technology is just going to make this whole situation worse. In addition to the distraction reported here, A recent study by AAA showed that the new safety systems like blond spot monitoring, automatic braking and the like may increase the risk of accidents - drivers don't read the owner'r manual and thus don't really understand how they work and - most importantly, their limitations, drivers rely on them too much (not looking at mirrors when changing lanes, for example, assuming the system will warn them when it may not in a number of circumstances), etc. Couple all of this with the poor state of driver education in this country (especially as compared to other countries such as in Europe) and the future looks less safe in many ways.

On freeways we see signs for the fuel stations, restaurants, hotels, and sights accessible from the next exit. There are no more than six logos per sign. Why? Because formal research shows that most drivers can understand six logos in about two seconds, and a longer diversion of attention to driving is unsafe. James C. Walker, National Motorists Association

My wife and I bought a used 2014 Subaru Outback last year, and it's a great car—except for the heater system. It's excessively complicated controls and sleek 'every button looks the same' design makes it impossible to use by touch. While it looks more futuristic than old-skool dials, I'm forced to frequently look far down on the dashboard to try and figure out how to adjust the many options. I'm shocked someone would design such an attention-requiring system. I've also been really surprised by the increase in touch-screens in cars, noting this first with the Tesla Model S's huge iPad-like interface. I'm fine with all sorts of automation in cars—especially voice controls. But it's absurd to keep adding things to cars that require you to look at them to use. I'm sure we'll see a commensurate rise in distraction-related accidents in years to come.

Smartphone makers adding features to help drivers focus sounds a lot like cigarette manufacturers making light cigarettes.

I've had three concussions with accompanying whiplash from three separate accidents caused by distracted drivers within the last 3.5 years. Each time I was at a complete stop at a stoplight or in stopped traffic. I lost time at work and just good old life time. I'm not alone and know others who have experienced the same thing. I beg friends and family...and anyone else out there who will listen ....please pay attention while driving. It ruins lives when you don't.