Do Not Disturb While Driving: A Feature That Can Save Lives
With its latest update, iOS 11, Apple introduced a Do Not Disturb while driving feature. Now, your iPhone can sense when you are driving and will hide messages, calls and notifications until your vehicle stops. If your phone is connected to Bluetooth in your car, it will allow calls, however.
Leading Cause of Death
Distracted driving is the leading cause of death in the United States today. In 2015, 3,477 people died in distracted driving incidents. Although anything that diverts your attention from the road can lead to accidents, texting is distracted driving that causes the most accidents in this country. Sending or reading a text may only take a few seconds, but when you are traveling on highways at 55 miles per hour or higher, it is similar to driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.
Setting Up the Feature
When Do Not Disturb is activated on your iPhone or iPad, you see a quarter moon in the status bar. Go to Settings, click on Do Not Disturb, then Do Not Disturb While Driving. You can have the phone automatically connect each time you are in the car, only when your car is connected to Bluetooth or manually. You can also set a schedule for Do Not Disturb. You can also tell the phone to allow calls from certain people, like your spouse or your child. It can also be set to allow a second call if someone calls you from the same number within three minutes in case the call is an emergency.
EverQuote Study
In February 2018, EverQuote, a leading insurance marketplace, released results of a study conducted on those who used the Do Not Disturb While Driving feature. Results showed that 70 percent of those surveyed used the feature and exhibited an 8 percent decrease in phone use while behind the year. The study found that the average drive time is 21 minutes and 88 seconds of that travel time included phone use. The survey also found that many iPhone users were unaware of the feature while those that were aware felt that it made them safer on the road.
Distracted driving is a major problem on today’s roads and this feature provided by Apple may help reduce accidents caused by someone who is distracted by their phone. If you have been injured in an accident where someone was texting or on their phone, contact our office by phone or complete the easy form online to see what rights you may have.
If you have been injured in an accident, contact the best personal injury lawyer Las Vegas to represent you. You can reach The Schnitzer Law firm by phone or by completing the easy form online to get started today.