The United States government wants smartphone manufacturers to look out most apps when the device is being used by someone driving a car. The government unveiled voluntary guiding principles on Wednesday, are designed to reduce accidents caused by drivers distracted by a smartphone. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also wants automakers to make infotainment systems easy to pair with smartphones.
According to the rules, drivers could still make phone calls, but the smartphones and automaker system would lock out the ability to enter text, video not related to driving, text from books, and internet browsing would be locked from the phone. The navigation system will be permitted, but with guidelines on how to avoid driver distraction.
During the past two years, fatal accidents by distracted drivers are on the rise, and that's contributing to a spike in traffic deaths. The government states that 3,477, or about 10 percent, of the more than 35,000 traffic wounded last year caught up abstracted drivers.
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said in a statement, "With driver disruption one of the issues after the increase of traffic deaths, we are dedicated to working with the business to make certain that smartphone devices are designed to keep drivers' gaze at where they belong on the road".
Automakers already are moving this direction, with many offering Android and Apple CarPlay Auto that pair devices to car touch screens and allow limited use of the smartphone apps. NHTSA wants smartphone makers to develop technology that can decide if someone is driving a car and then disable most of the applications. But currently this type of application doesn’t exist.