It may not come as a surprise but the biggest consumers of in-vehicle gadgets are men. Things like satellite radio and GPS navigation systems continue to be at the top of the accessory want lists. Now, AAMI, a big auto insurer in Australia, has done a study on the impact of these devices. The Australian online newspaper reports that men, more than women, are prone to distraction when using their GPS navigation devices.
The study looked at 2500 Australian drivers. Of those, 17 per cent of male respondents admitted to losing focus while using their GPS gadgets in the car while only 12 per cent of women admitted to the same thing. The Australian quotes Mike Sopinski, corporate affairs manager for AAMI, as saying "For some men the temptation to fiddle and change settings on their GPS can be too great.''
Music systems, especially tape and CD players, were also a distraction for 42 per cent of drivers. Interestingly, only 12 per cent admitted to being distracted by their MP3 player.
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It seems to have come earlier this year but it's once again time to spring forward to Daylight Saving Time. This occurs at 2 a.m. on Sunday when the clocks will be turned forward by an hour and suddenly it will be 3 a.m. For many of us this will occur while we are tucked snuggly in our beds but for the party crowd it could be a problem. If you take Metro you need to be aware that because of this change the system will essentially shut down at 2 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning. Do what many of us do at home and that is to turn your watch or cell phone clock ahead by an hour before you head out.
This is also the time of year to change the batteries, if needed, in your smoke detectors or any other battery-operated alarm systems. It may be earlier than needed but it's a good habit to get into.
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For years there have been sensors to measure the number of cars and trucks using a given stretch of road. These have been and continue to be rather crude pneumatic tubes that force air across a camber that advances a counter inside. These days there is more and more need to count the number of pedestrians and bicycles and to make adjustment to signal timings in response. It has been a challenge that engineers continue to research. One current study is being undertaken by the Texas Transportation Institute with funding from the Southwest University Transportation Center. One of the challenges they face, along with just about any traffic engineer who is trying to determine the timing of crosswalk timing, is the variance between joggers and those who are slowed by groceries or children or age or ailment. The ideal is to develop a system that can predict the needs of various walkers and time the signals at that given moment appropriately. This is obviously a couple steps ahead (pardon the pun) of simply being able to tell that a pedestrian or cyclists is present. A test bed has been set up in Austin, Texas and they continue to work on it. Part of the test involved having the sensors alert motorists via flashing light or some such thing to the presence of the bikes or walkers. Of course, in this economic environment, communities might have a hard time paying for a lot of fancy new equipment but the need should certainly be at the top of the list.
Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter,
observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation
issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com.
Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used
within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first
name and city/neighborhood.
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