8A Solving the Problem

In my previous post I discussed the prevalence of drunk or distracted driving. Through my interviews it was clear to me that most people have either committed these behaviors before or know someone who has. It was also a common answer that most of the people doing these behaviors are young, even as young as high school level. Because this problem is about the behavior of people, it is difficult to offer solutions, because no matter what you offer people will still decide whether or not they want to use it. There are already many products are services in place to combat this. For example, Uber is great for people who need a ride home after the bar, but people choose not to use it. Snapchat has a filter that comes up if you take a picture or video going a certain speed that says, “don’t snap and drive!” These are all great, but they don’t guarantee anything. I think greater awareness at the high school and college level will help this matter greatly, so young people can understand the dangers of this behavior. I think a function on a cell phone could help drunk driving, such as the ability to blow into a port on the cell phone to give yourself a blood alcohol test. As far as distracted driving, because the action is literally committed with a cell phone, this seems easier to combat. I think cell phones should be able to detect if you are the one in the drivers seat, and then if you are traveling above a certain speed (similar to the Snapchat design) your phone simply wont let you text, perhaps only make phone calls. Some cars that have touch screens and technology like that already have this function so that the driver cannot mess with the touch screen while driving, so I think it could be feasible to add this to a cell phone.