Do
you own a landline phone? Have you considered getting rid of it and
only using your cell phone? As technology continues to improve, we find
ourselves abandoning old ideas and flocking to newer, more efficient
methods of communication. Just look around and see if you spot anyone
still rocking a pager or beeper.
That being said, it's no surprise
that texting is quickly overshadowing the traditional phone call for
many of us today, especially amongst younger generations, who are
embracing it at younger and younger ages. Whereas a phone call typically
requires one's full attention, focusing on conversation with one
person, texting does not. It is faster, more convenient, and allows you
to easily hold multiple conversations at once. We have gotten to the
point where communicating via text message has become a social norm, and
can even express emotion through this medium, thanks to emoticons.
:)
Unfortunately, the situation in which we are most likely
to text also happens to be the worst for multi-tasking:
driving. Your eyes are taken off the road, and your
likelihood of having an accident is 23 times as high compared to
non-impaired drivers. 35 states have banned texting while driving, and
there are even states that ban cell phone use in the car completely, due
to the amount of injury and risk it presents!
Despite bans on
texting while driving, many of us continue to be guilty of doing it, and
end up weaving about our lanes in traffic, or speeding up and down
erratically. That's a lot of potential danger just to get back to our
friends and let them know that we aren't ignoring them.
Here are a couple ideas you can try out to keep you safer when driving:
1. Drive Safe.ly
This
app for iPhone and Android offers a free as well as paid version. It
allows you to set up an away message when you are driving, and auto
responds to incoming texts. The app will also read incoming texts sent
to you, so that you don't have to look at your phone.
2.
Voice to text
Most
smartphones allow the user to press a button on their keypad which
allows them to speak into their phone and translate their voice into a
text message. While not perfect (the software doesn't always understand
exactly what you're trying to communicate) it keeps your eyes more
focused on the road, and not as much on your phone, worrying about typos
or the auto-correct inputting something silly. The good news? Great
strides are being made in voice recognition software, and continue to
get better (just ask anyone who owns the newest iPhone and has used
Siri).
3.
Hands free options (Entune)
Being
able to utilize technology while keeping your hands on the wheel and
eyes on the road is the closest thing to a win-win situtation for both
drivers and anti-texting advocacy groups. For that reason, an
infotainment system such as
Entune is
recommended. You can check gas prices, weather, look up businesses on
Bing, and use voice recognition to pull up directions. Toyota is also
hoping to add full voice recognition functionality early in 2012
so that you will be able to send full e-mails and texts with your
voice.
Entune is currently available on select vehicles, such as
the Prius V, 2012 Camry, and 2012 Tacoma, with plans to become available
in more vehicles next year. You can try out Entune by running the
simulation online or by heading over to
Lou Fusz Toyota and taking a test drive.
