technt77

A Canaidan company is now offering hands-free access to e-mail. The iLane, developed by Intelligent Mechatron Systems, is a device about the size of a PDA and uses Bluetooth short-range wireless technology and a voice-based interface to notify the driver of incoming messages.

Basically, a driver can ask for his messages, listen to them, and then orally compose responses. This is supposed to help a driver stay more focused on driving . . . I guess.

Here's the wacky part of this story (found on cnn.com). The iLane product manager Ben Miners states, "The objective is to improve driver safety. We know people are taking their BlackBerries and PDAs out while and typing in them while they are driving, and this allows them to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road."

Whatever happened to just . . . driving?

rocker21

No kidding. Do people think they are that busy that they have to do all these things while they drive.....get a life comes to mind.

technt77

Some people think that this is actually a good thing, the multitasking aspect of it. I guess what bothers me about it is that we are so busy that we think we HAVE to do two things at once instead of just leaving some things undone. Sure, we still have 24 hours in our day like people did decades ago, but we just try to squeeze more things INTO the 24 hours.

rocker21

I suppose you are right and that is where all this technology stuff has really come into play.

Trinity

Silly me---I still look at the keys to type------wouldn't that be a safety issue for me to decide to go down road with my pda??? I take my laptop and use my cell for access-----but only in the rest area---lol.

technt77

Yeah - - rest areas I can understand.

I went to a youth camp once where the pastor read a book while he drove us across the state. Yeah, he read a book!

yellowbird

I think there are getting to be either too many drivers on the road or radio stations need to come up with better programs to keep people' attention. I know people are busy and no one has time for anything. I know where I work, your lucky to make a trip to the bathroom during your shift. But really, how safe is some of this stuff! When you are driving in a car, you should be concentrating on your driving, not checking your email, the weather, the stock market, or anything else. People are so worried about drunk drivers or overtired drivers that I wonder if the day will come where you are punished for causing an accident when using these devices. I can see a whole new set of law suits coming about.

Desiree

seriously WHO checks theyre email goen down the road NOT I and not anyone I know about. The worst I do is listen to voicemail goen down the road or talk briefly on the phone

technt77

Sounds like communism.

I can see the writing on the wall as well though. Right now the big buzz is about restricting cell phone usage. I read recently about the four states and DC that have done just that for all drivers, regardless of age.

rocker21

I think that restrictions of some sort while driving are probably a good idea. I was sitting at a stop light in town one afternoon and I think that at least 80 percent of the people that drove by were talking on phones.