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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc. (Hons.) Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc Nicholas Vinen Photography Ross Tester Reader Services Ann Morris Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VK3UG Kevin Poulter Stan Swan Dave Thompson SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $97.50 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see the order form in this issue. Editorial office: Unit 1, 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. Fax (02) 9939 2648. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 Publisher’s Letter Texting while driving could be prevented Today’s mobile phones are wonderful pieces of technology but they are constantly being misused by irresponsible and stupid people. How many times have you seen other drivers texting while they are actually in traffic? Have you ever done this yourself? How could anyone be so stupid? But it happens all the time. Sure, this behaviour is illegal but it is virtually impossible to police because it happens so frequently. At the risk of being labelled “sexist”, this stupidity seems to be more common among young women drivers but blokes do it as well. I would like to think that any driver who was involved in an accident while texting or using a phone would be facing a jail sentence. After all, if someone was killed, surely a charge of manslaughter would be highly probable. But even if it was, that would be no certain deterrent. In fact, no legislation, no matter how draconian, will ever be able to prevent stupidity. I even think that any use of a phone in a car is a serious distraction when you are driving, even if you do have a hands-free set-up. I know that legislation against all phone use in cars is probably never going to happen because so many people do work from their cars. But perhaps phones could be prevented from providing any other functions, such as texting, reading emails, browsing the internet and even track changing while you are playing music. Technically, this would be simple to achieve, provided the phone had an in-built GPS receiver, which most smart-phones already have. The GPS would then prevent all the above-listed functions from working above a low threshold speed. In fact, the phone could probably have some input whereby it sensed that the car’s engine was running. If so, most phone functions would be disabled. The technology to do this is available right now. For example, the Australian company Humming Bird Electronics makes a GPS switch which could be the basis of this function (see http://hmbe.com.au/products/gps-speed-switch). Maybe such a system should be used to disable all phone use. If this seems too drastic for all those people working from cars, then so be it. If they were waiting on an important in-coming call or needed to make some calls, they would have to pull over and stop the engine. If they didn’t like it, tough! It would not be a big step for the legislators in this country to flag up a move to have all cars fitted with such technology. It would be a condition of registering your car. Furthermore, it would not be all that hard for this GPS over-ride device to broadcast a signal so that police cars in the vicinity can check that it is functioning. They can already easily check whether a car is fitted with a radar detector or is legally registered. Ultimately, if Australia and other countries want to further reduce the road toll, legislation to prevent behaviour is not the way to go. Technology should be used wherever possible, provided of course, that it is cost-effective. Whether that means improving the roads themselves, the signalling and sign-posting and so on, or technical modifications to cars (and phones), so be it. Legislation can only go so far as a deterrent against stupid and irresponsible behaviour. Technology can and should be used as well. Leo Simpson Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip siliconchip.com.au