Apps and Driving Safety – a Deadly Mix?

We have written extensively about the dangers of texting while driving. But are apps on smartphones dangerous as well? Mostly yes. Anything that distracts a driver while engaged in operating a multi ton vehicle at highway speeds can pose a serious danger to everyone on the highway.

Apps on smartphones or even on vehicle touch screens require that a driver divert attention from vehicle operation for varying lengths of time. It is not much different than in the old days dropping a music CD on the floor of the car, and bending down for seconds at a time to try to reach for it. The difference is that unlike a CD, an app can beep at you or otherwise prompt you to stop ignoring it.

So how to deal with apps? Maybe just turn them off? Would that work?

Should app makers provide driving mode options that automatically disable apps?  That would be great, but in lieu of this feature, turning off the app, or even the phone, entirely would be an effective approach to driving safety.

Call the Law Office of David W Holub at (219)736-9700 today if you or a loved one have been hurt in a vehicle accident, or due to a product defect, or a medical error, or the causes noted in the many other types of injury cases with which we deal each day.