We talk a lot about cars in this issue. And rightly so. Most of you spend a ton of time in your vehicles at work. At home, too.
Traffic safety, especially as it pertains to all the distractions we are dealing with, is a pervasive trend in the industry. Fifteen years ago you still had your bad drivers. Those folks who were “out to lunch”…reading books…eating food…disregarding construction signs…watching everything but the road in front of them. Now give all those same people a phone and you have a real attention-deficit dilemma on your hands. Most of us are guilty to some extent.
It’s getting harder and harder for drivers to “disconnect” from mobile devices and their texts, tweets, calls, photos, and notifications. As you’re probably aware, this is true of cops, too. Some of you might feel you’re already pushing the limits of how much and how well you are capable of multitasking on the road.
So, how can we re-think traffic safety in an age of constant distraction? In our cover story “Eyes on the Road” we spoke with officers from Oregon and Ontario who are well-aware of this problem and trying on different solutions. Increasing fines is an obvious one (and efficient), but what do you think about “patrolling” the streets in a hearse to issue warnings to texters? Snapping pictures and showing them to drivers “caught in the act?” Or employing data-rich technology to anticipate crash hotspots so you can plan accordingly?
Of course, when cars drive themselves sharing YouTube videos and responding to emails en route to grandma’s house won’t be such a big deal. But these vehicles are still in test-mode—it will take a little more time (but not much) to iron out safety capabilities, security limitations, and even revise traffic laws. See how they’re coming along, I discuss a few ways in which these “smart” vehicles could impact drivers and police, too. When representatives from Google and California Highway Patrol presented the latest reporting of self-driving cars at the Law Enforcement Information Management (LEIM) conference in San Diego last year, they were very confident in the abilities of the vehicles so far. The accident statistics are pristine and cars could easily navigate various terrain in all kinds of weather conditions. (But they weren’t so sure how they would handle in snow—which concerns me, living in Wisconsin.)
Maybe someday sheriff’s deputies will be checking reports and drinking coffee in self-driving cars, too. It’s kind of humorous imagining such a sight rolling up to a serious domestic call or pursuing a suspect, no?
Look for more “car talk” next month when we analyze results from the annual Michigan State Police Vehicle trials.Safe journeys.
Sara Scullin
Sara Scullin was the Editor of Law Enforcement Technology magazine, a monthly business-to-business publication that covers technology trends and best practices for public safety managers. LET is part of SouthComm Law Enforcement Media, which also publishes Law Enforcement Product News and Officer.com. Sara had covered the law enforcement industry since March 2008.
