Watching 60 Minutes Australia tonight and they had the tragic story about a young girl who crashed her car and passed away after she answered a call from her Mother while driving. At the end of the story, it was mentioned that technology is being developed for installation in cars themselves that will prevent the use of mobile phones while driving.
I am all for restricting the use of mobile phones in cars unless it is through a hands free device. However I think we should be cautious on trying to further regulate what is, in the end, bad habits of drivers. While technology in cars that prevent the use of mobile phones sounds like a good idea, it would be expensive to implement and rollout would be likely limited to new cars.
A much more promising option is the development of software solutions within the phones themselves. Sensors in newer phones are now able to automatically detect when you are driving. Based on these sensors, it would be possible for software to prevent incoming and outgoing calls being made unless it detects a handsfree device is connected. In addition, you could also set the phone to automatically send a reply SMS when it receives a text, notifying the other person that you are currently driving and will respond to their SMS when appropriate.
However, despite the possibility of these advancements helping to reduce the risk, the biggest lesson in hearing a tragic story of a young life taken is one of behaviour. Technology does not force us to be dependent on it, we choose to be so. Through my work and personal life I surround myself with technology; but my phone will stay in my pocket while I'm driving.
We need to train ourselves not to take that risk and not expect technology, or someone else, to make that choice for us.