I *think* I have a solution to texting and driving

"Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion" (spydermonkeywrench) 08/19/2015 at 20:56 • Filed to: TXT

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Ok , this is a just a concept idea I had while reading the FP post about 1/4 of accidents being caused by distracted driving, and I was wondering if my idea could actually work.

If struck by lighting, a car acts as a faraday cage, directing the electricity around the occupant(s). I know a faraday cage operates off the principle that metal “strips” have to form a gap smaller then the wavelength of a signal, and blocks signals. However, if the system isn’t fully enclosed, or the gaps in the conductive materials are larger then the wavelengths, the signals pass through into the cage. And that’s why phones work in cars (because of the giant breaches called windows).

My idea is, metal strips (no thicker then a human hair; if not smaller) form a transparent cross hatch across all the windows with the same distance between them as the wavelengths of phone signals. Or in smaller words that make more sense to me, make the windows of cars like microwave doors (except more transparent, so it’s invisible) to block phone signal from to entering the car.

Also, while this isn’t apart of the concept, but saying this would work, I would have it said up so the driver/occupants plug there phone into a USB port, which would disable the phone.

In turn, the infotainment system (whose antenna would be housed outside the faraday cage), would have the navigation, & radio system available, and unlock the windows to be allowed to roll down (if the phone is disconnected, the windows rolls up).

To allow the occupants to use their phones, they would plug their phones into their own seperate USB ports (which would be located in areas far away from the driver, would be connected to weight and heat sensors within the seats to prevent the driver from plugging their phone into it, and would require a phone to be plugged into the driver USB port as well to allow the car to turn on). These USB ports would be connected to an antenna outside of the car and would allow occupants to have full access to their phones.

And while I realize that messing with the navigation/radio is still distracted driving, people have been looking at maps since the Model T and messing with the radios since the 1950s.

On top of all that, an additional hidden sensor within the cabin will... Look for (?) phone signals, entering the system and alert the driver/manufacture to prevent people from getting crafty and drilling holes, or making gaps in the cage basically.

I know this isn’t a perfect system, but couldn’t this actually work?

PowderHound > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 21:01

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What if you don't have a phone and want to put the windows down?

jariten1781 > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 21:09

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Older style cheap window tinting had metal particles embedded that pretty much blocked all signal.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 21:38

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That sounds overly complicated. I’m all for less distracted driving but I think a better solution is just make driving more difficult and labor intensive. Like manual transmission, no power steering, really loud exhaust to keep you alert, hard suspension to communicate the road better. I’m sure people find a way to text and do that but it’s certainly harder at least.

TheOnelectronic > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 21:44

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You’ve had a crash! Would you like to dial 911? TOO BAD BECAUSE YOUR CAR IS A FARADAY CAGE.

The solution to distracted driving is convincing people that it’s a stupid idea. I think people are more and more coming around to that (Sort of like how everyone decided all at once that maybe smoking is bad)

If you try to force something like this, someone will always find a way around it.

boxrocket > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 22:01

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Fords, Jaguars, and Land Rovers have a metal mesh layer in the windshield that is used as an electric window de-icer/fogger, and I’ve encountered them acting as a Faraday cage for my work’s windshield-mounted transmitters for vehicle ID and gate access, so we have to mount them on the driver’s window instead. If they were installed on all the windows, that could work, and the phone would have to pair with the onboard infotainment system and use its antennas to function.

Justin T. Westbrook > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 22:16

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I’m really happy you went looking into this.

All you have to do is put a frequency jammer thingy in the car, which simultaneously sends out a signal to phones only opening up a channel to 911. The car’s computer, when the phone is plugged in, can override the jammer for nav and calls through the car, but the phone goes black. Hell, it’d even be cheap to do.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > TheOnelectronic 08/19/2015 at 23:09

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Damn didn’t think about the 911 situation...

Maybe all cars should come with a help button like Chevy does with OnStar? And while people are coming around to it, way to many people still do it. And those people are still a danger to those who don’t.

It’s a solution to a problem that’s not going away fast enough. And while your right about somebody getting a way through it (for example, I thought about somebody just using 2 phones. One to link, and put down the windows, and then the other to text), I think a vast majority of people arnt stubborn (or are just to lazy) enough to come up with bypasses.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > Justin T. Westbrook 08/19/2015 at 23:16

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I thought about jammers, but jammers would also interfere with the occupants phones. I know I would be pissed if I couldn’t read jalopnik on long car rides when im not the one driving.

Justin T. Westbrook > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 23:20

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The in-car wifi takes care of that (to be installed with the jammers)

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > Justin T. Westbrook 08/19/2015 at 23:41

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But... Wouldn’t the jammer jam the wi-fi? It works if it’s a wired connection.

And wouldn’t the jammer have the possibility of jamming things outside of the car (especially with the windows down)? So you’d need a faraday cage anyway to contain the jammer. I don’t really understand how jammers work, but I don’t think you can limit it to be within a certain area of the car, and on top of that, jammers are illegal in many parts of the country, and (I didn’t think of this until I read about them being illegal), there’d be a readly available source of jammers, which could be used maliciously to jam aircraft control, radio stations, etc. by “just” boosting the power* and switching frequencies.

*i have no idea if boosting the power would actually boost the effect of the jammer, i hardly understand how they work, but it makes sense.

I think the problem is with jammers is, they do their job of jamming the cell phones, but it’s the possibility of doing their job to well .

TheRealBicycleBuck > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/20/2015 at 08:32

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Cars do a pretty good job of blocking cell signals as it is. Creative people already came up with a solution to solve the problem.

Yes, they work. No, your faraday cage idea wouldn’t stop them. All you would do is create a new market demand for this ‘80s technology.

The better, easier to implement solution would be to force smartphone manufacturers to install transponders into the phone which receive a signal from the car, restricting their use. It would be similar to the transponder in your keys.

Of course, this would cause people to hang onto old cars and old phones that don’t have the technology, or someone would sell a device that would block the transponder signal....

DisplacementForDayz, ironically lusts after a Honda Grom > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/20/2015 at 10:15

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This will really make the libertarians happy... Though I could see this happening eventually, but self driving cars will come much sooner, making something like this obsolete.

GotGroceries > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/20/2015 at 13:46

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Simpler still, restrict things at the device level by interpreting GPS signals. Anything over 10mph? No texting for you. It’s done on in-car navigation systems now, not an insurmountable task.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > GotGroceries 08/23/2015 at 10:07

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Problem is:

1) not all phones have data, and you can disable data pretty easily.

2) even if it did have data on, the amount of data usage per year would skyrocket.

3) phones could still work at stop lights

4) occupants phones wouldn’t work

5) I know it's 2k15, but flip phones without GPS, and data still exsist.

tpw_rules > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 09/28/2015 at 10:30

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Another factor you have to consider is that, counterintuitively, a phone with no cell signal uses massive amounts of power compared to one with good signal. It will crank up the transmit power way high in a (futile) attempt to find a tower. In order to not waste huge amounts of battery, you’ll have to get good at remembering to turn airplane mode on. Then be really good at turning it off... “Jones, why weren’t you at the meeting today?” “I left my phone on airplane mode by accident and it didn’t get the notification!”