Ben Lieberman just wanted to find out what may have caused the head-on collision that killed his 19-year-old son, Evan, on a highway north of New York City. It took a lawsuit and six months in court to get the cellphone records showing the driver of the car his son was in had been texting behind the wheel.
Lieberman doesn’t believe getting that information should be so hard.
He’s channeling his grief over the 2011 accident into a proposal that would allow police at accident scenes in New York to immediately examine drivers’ cellphones with a device to determine if they’d been tapping, swiping or clicking. It’s been called a Breathalyzer for texting.
“You think people are already looking at phones and it just doesn’t happen,” said Lieberman, who is partnering with the Israel-based tech company Cellebrite to develop the plug-in device that’s been nicknamed the “textalyzer.”
The idea already faces obstacles from constitutional and privacy advocates who are quick to note that police need the owner’s consent and a warrant to get cellphone records. They’re also concerned such technology would be used to access all of the personal information people may have on their cellphones.
“Every fender bender would become a pretense for gobbling up people’s private cellphone information, and we know that cellphones typically contain our entire lives,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, who is no relation to Ben Lieberman.
At least 46 states have laws barring texting while driving and 14 ban all hand-held devices, but some safety advocates say more needs to be done to enforce the laws.
Deborah Hersman, the CEO of the National Safety Council and a supporter of the “textalyzer” legislation, noted that in 2016, 40,000 people died on the road, a 14 percent jump from 2014 and the biggest two-year jump in 50 years.
“There can’t be a more compelling reason than life or death for saying why we should have access to this information,” Hersman said.
Cellebrite said its technology, which is about nine months away from being finished, sidesteps privacy concerns because it’s designed only to determine usage, not access data. Company officials said the device would only be able to tell if someone physically clicked or swiped the phone during the time of the accident, and then investigators could use that to determine if they should get a warrant for more detailed information.
“For this device, the whole purpose is not to get any data,” said Jim Grady, the chief executive officer of Cellebrite USA. “So no, police won’t be able to, unless they rewrite our code.”
In California, drivers automatically go for the cell if traffic on the freeway slows to less than 30 mph, and we have miles of slow freeway traffic everyday. The younger drivers never put the thing down.
I would prefer they find a way to prevent, not wait until after the fact.
I almost got rear ended last week on the North side of Indianapolis getting caught behind a bug exterminator driving 45 mph when the rest of traffic is pushing 70 mph. When I got around him he was more focused on his handled set than the road.
Almost run off the road as well by a women more interested in texting on her cell phone than driving her car.
@Angry Driver — You make a great point. It seems there is already the tech available to make an ignition locked-out for other conditions. It would be easy enough for phone and auto makers to collaborate on a lock-out for phones, too.
It is too easy to spot the texting driver, they’re all over the road, drive too slow and there are too many near misses. Geoff C. was almost hit head on a few weeks ago by a texting driver. Then, when they see where they are they overcorrect and that’s a problem, too.
There are several companies working on devices that will shut your cell phone off if your motors running. The trick is, as I understand it, they need to configure there stuff so you can still make a 911 call.
All they need is something to disable the texting on cell phones when the engine is on. 911 will work on landlines and cell phones and sometimes will work when there is no dial tone. I used to work for a major phone company, so I know it can be done.
This is one way to do it. The other would be a mandatory submission of all cell activity on or about the time of an incident causing more than $X property damage.
I as a passenger should be allowed operate a phone if I am allowed to read a book.
I despise any all government intrusion, but this gadget flipping while driving is gettting out of hand.
Brad, how will they restrict the drivers from their phone but not passengers?
How about the ounce o90f prevention–The only legal place to carry a cell phone while the car is in motion is in the trunk. Remove the source of temptation. If you really need to use it, stop the car and do so.
Sorry! clumbsy fingers or operator error, take your pick!
is your life that important- do you have that many friends or business deals- do you need to talk/text someone 24/7 each day/? back in my day we had a dial phone- you called, if we were home we answered- if not home, you called back. NO answering machines and we even had a two party line. the more we progress in tech. knowledge the farther we go back wards in sensibility. leave the cell phones home and live to see another day.
Re: The passengers. I have a simple solution.
It drives me nutzo how the passenger in one of our cars can’t use the built-in dashboard GPS while the car is in motion. How does it know the driver is using it and not the passenger? Modern cars have sensors in the seats. It should allow use of the GPS if it senses there is a person in the passenger seat. Don’t see a reason why this wouldn’t work for cell phones too. Yet the individual cannot be entrusted with their own safety.
I.s tyeped tishi whilwre drivin. Ists sooooo esay! Youg gueeys shold shjut up”.
I agree wholeheartedly with all the comments about passenger use. I am frequently a passenger and if your proposed “solution” will interfere with my ability to do ANYTHING legal I want to do that doesn’t distract the driver or is otherwise dangerous, I’ve got a big problem with that. And don’t feed me any crap about it being “worth it” for me to have my freedom further restricted because somebody else can’t act responsibly.
Good gravy! Am I the *ONLY* brainiac in the group?
“..cellphones typically contain our entire lives,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director….
Put down the phone.
It is sad and scary to read that “cellphones contain entire lives”
If you’re not driving then there’s ANOTHER PERSON IN THE CAR WITH YOU. It’s called conversation.
You people need to put the phone down, and get a life.
And, never take it into the bedroom either.
People who play with themselves ie the play phone while behind the wheel and cause an accident should be jailed and when they get out forbidden a smart phone for the duration of parole, supervised released.
Their community service should be to respond to fatal accidents and witness the death and destruction caused by reckless driving.