Transcript 0:00 [gentle music] We can make in-vehicle technology more intuitive so it doesn't take the driver's attention away from the task at hand, and the task at hand is driving. Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel. 0:17 We can have the technology to prevent the use of devices in the car that distract us. 0:28 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation with your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:43 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. If you live here in the United States, let me be the first to wish you happy early Labor Day weekend. 0:58 Yeah, we all need a great Labor Day weekend, and Labor Day is a time to pay tribute to all of the contributions of American workers. It symbolizes the end of summer and a time to barbecue. 1:12 It also is a time when millions of Americans will take to the roads to visit family or friends or just to get away, and many states are focusing efforts to reduce unsafe driving behavior this year, and it's something we really need to talk about. 1:30 So on this first segment, I will share what you can expect on the roads this weekend, a recent federal resolution, and then I will share specific solutions for how to be a little bit safer on our roads this weekend and every weekend. 1:50 Later on in the show, I will be interviewing a couple guests as always. 1:54 First, I will be talking to Howard Brown, founder and CEO of RingDNA, and then I will wrap up the show with Adam Weinberg, founder and CTO of FirstPoint Mobile Guard. So as always, let's get started. 2:11 Roadway fatalities have been a leading killer in the United States for decades. You've heard me talk about it a lot on this show. 2:20 The National Safety Council estimates forty-two hundred and sixty people lose their lives in motor vehicle accidents just in twenty-twenty. Now think about that, just in twenty-twenty. 2:33 That is the highest in more than a decade. That's, in my opinion, just too many lost lives. Think about that. Just too many. 2:43 The Governors Highway Safety Association, also known as the GHSA, says the Labor Day holiday is especially, an especially deadly time in unsafe driving. 2:56 This year, the risks are even greater than normal due to traffic volumes and the increases. More than ten thousand people die each year in crashes involving drunk drivers. 3:09 During the twenty-nineteen Labor Day holiday, roughly forty-six percent of the drivers between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four were killed in motor vehicle crashes, and they had a BAC of zero point zero eight or higher. 3:29 Equally as concerning is the distracted driving epidemic. Now you have heard me for years talk about distracted driving and the concern that we are too distracted when we are behind the weapon w- of what a vehicle is. 3:47 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says three thousand one hundred and forty-two lives were claimed due to distracted driving in just twenty-nineteen. Now here's the hard reality. 4:02 Many drivers believe they can multitask behind the wheel. I'm here to tell you that you can't. Put your ego aside. You cannot multitask behind the wheel. 4:15 I will say it again, don't be the reason someone dies because you were distracted. 4:22 The National Safety Council says drivers talking on their cell phones can miss seeing up to fifty percent of their driving environments, including pedestrians and red lights. 4:35 Don't pick up that phone at red lights either. Oh my goodness, if I could tell you being a passenger how many times people do it. 4:44 A AAA study shows that people are distracted up to twenty-seven seconds after they send that voice text. This is downright dangerous. It's a killer. It's simply a killer. So let's talk about what states are doing. 5:03 The GHSA points to several examples of efforts that the state highway safety offices are taking this holiday weekend. Now let me give you some examples. 5:16 The Washington Traffic Safety Commission will support enforcement with a TV, radio, digital, and social media campaign. 5:25 Over in Washington, the Bureau of Traffic Safety is supplementing an enforcement with a focus on motorcycle rider outreach through the Dare Devils Dare Not campaign and promoting rider education. 5:40 Hey, get out on the road, but be safe. The Maryland Highway Safety Office is reminding motorists to ensure a sober ride home in the... if they plan on drinking alcohol over the Labor Day weekend. We want you to be... 5:58 have a great time, but we also want you to be safe. That's what they're saying. 6:02 These efforts in Maryland will be coupled with enforcement focused on impaired driving, distracted driving, and seat belt use.In Mississippi the Highway Safety Office is delivering safe driving messages to college students at three different campuses throughout the Labor Day weekend. 6:23 Now, here's another one the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning is focusing on the twenty-five counties with the most impaired driving facili-- fa-fatalities through enforcement and a comprehensive public awareness campaign 6:41 Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Coalition for Zero Fatalities, led by the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, is providing ride hailing credits over the holiday Labor Day weekend. I think that's pretty cool, right? Don't you? 6:57 I, I just like that we don't have to drive, but we can work with others to help us get home safely. I could give more examples, but I think you simply get the idea. States will be focused on driving safe 7:13 and driving safely this holiday weekend. As a nation, we are also moving to reduce traffic fatalities. We have to stop driving in a risky way. 7:30 In July, the Senate created a resolution to reduce traffic fatalities to zero. Yep, you heard me zero. By twenty fifty. The Senate aims to advance policies that will end roadway fatalities by twenty fifty. 7:47 Now, that's a tall order, I can assure you. 7:50 To support efforts to address disparities and other equity related issues related to transportation safety, to improve data gathering and tracking of traffic crashes and other issues related to transportation safety, to commit to implementation of proven countermeasures and interventions, to prioritize transportation safety, and to recognize the need for a safe 8:24 systems approach in the United States for transportation, including improving access, safety, mobility for all roadway users. I can tell you that's very ambitious, and I would bet you are saying it is too. Is it needed? 8:42 Absolutely. Now, let's talk specifically about how we might do all of this. How are we gonna do this? Legislation is certainly one route, but there are other options to consider here, and I want you to think about that. 9:01 I believe it is important to have education in addition to enforcement. Parents can educate children before they become drivers, and employers can educate employees. 9:16 Maybe start a policy in your company banning the use of devices while driving. You can influence your employees. I recognize this isn't going to be easy. We all know that. 9:29 We all have this need, that ding to pick up that phone, to send a tweet, to do things. When we hear voices in the car, we wanna pick up our phone. 9:40 I also believe technology might be a solution to keeping drivers safe on the road too. 9:47 We can make in-vehicle technology more intuitive, so it doesn't take the driver's attention away from the task at hand, and the task at hand is driving. Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel. 10:01 We can have the technology to prevent the use of devices in the car that distract us. Roughly fifty-seven percent of people said if their vehicle 10:13 came preset with solutions to eliminate distraction while driving, they would not turn the features off. They wouldn't turn them off. We can do something about it. Let's do that. 10:27 Let's build the solutions directly into the cars that save lives. We can do it. Our car makers can do it. Our technology can-- companies can do it. We as the drivers can do it. We just have to want to do it. 10:43 Okay, so here's my opinion for today. I like the efforts being taken at both the state and federal levels today, but as always, that's just the beginning. We need to be safer behind the wheel. 11:01 We need to start it when we're young, we need to start it when we're at our offices, and we need to start it in our communities. We need people to realize that we are losing lives here, our loved ones, our children. 11:16 We need people to realize that widespread behavior change is essential. We need a refresher on the importance 11:27 of awareness in unsafe driving behaviors, and we need to implement the solutions to move forward safely. We forget 11:40 that when we're behind the wheel, it's so easy to be distracted, and it only takes a couple of seconds, the length of a football field, to be distracted and to cause great harm to ourselves and to others. 11:56 Sometimes we forget that, but it's that quick. It's that quick to be distracted and a life is lost, and we, and we can't go backwards once it happens. So here's my tip. Put the phone down. 12:11 Roughly thirty-two percent of drivers still think they can use their phone safely as long as they pay attention to the road.Let me tell you, no, just no, you can't. You think you might, but you can't. 12:26 I am often a passenger, and I see their erratic driving behavior that happens when people are looking at their phones while driving, and I can assure you every time I video someone who's on their phone, they quickly put it down because they know it's wrong, but yet they do it, and they're the ones causing the most distraction and disturbance and the disruption on the roadway. 12:53 It is anything but safe. Please slow down this weekend. Don't drink. Don't drive distracted. Wear your seatbelt. 13:09 Let's be aware and be safe. Let's all have a great Labor Day weekend. It's a time to be with our friends, it's a time to be with our family, and it's a time to just be together. 13:24 COVID has prevented us all from being that together and to enjoy this time. Let's not find out that we're distracted and we have another thing to worry about. 13:35 What we can do is enjoy our friends and family and not be distracted. All right. 13:42 As always, if you have thoughts on what we've talked about today, please send me a tweet and continue this discussion on social media at connectedwmag. All right, listeners, I'm out of time for this first segment. 13:55 Please check out our website at connectedworld.com or our show website at www.peggySmedleyShow.com. All right, don't go away. I'm gonna be right back after this commercial break, and you know what? 14:08 I wanna hear your thoughts, so you know what? While we're taking that break, get up there on Twitter and send me your comments. 14:14 All right, as always, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. 14:23 Go get that quick cup of coffee, 'cause I will be right back. [outro music]
