New Apple iOS Update Includes Driving Safety Feature

Would it surprise you to hear that texting and driving is dangerous? As our personal injury lawyers at Aronberg, Aronberg & Green know, probably not. Distracted driving—including texting while driving—is a serious problem in Florida, the United States, and globally; unfortunately, there is no easy fix to the serious problem. Fortunately, though, some companies—and a big one in particular, as we will explore in this blog—are giving drivers the tools they need to drive more safely. The new Apple Update Includes Driving Safety Feature please consider updating your cell phone.

According to Apple’s website section dedicated to previewing iOS 11, the update will include a “Do Not Disturb” feature. According to the Apple website, “iPhone can now sense when you might be driving and help keep you from being distracted by calls, text messages, and notifications.” While the description of how exactly the technology might work is a bit vague, the result is exciting for those of us, like our personal injury layers, who have hoped for years that technology companies would do more to reduce distracted driving. Apple further states that “[p]eople trying to message you can automatically be notified that you’re driving.”

Apple Update Driving Safety Feature Includes “Do Not Disturb”

CNET, a widely-followed technology review media company, has provided additional info on the Do Not Disturb While Driving feature of the next software update. According to CNET, iPhone users will be able to activate the “Do Not Disturb While Driving” feature by toggling it to the green position under Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls. This is the “manual” way to activate the feature. Under Settings > Do Not Disturb, you can either select to enable the function manually, or you can opt to have the iPhone kick on the feature either (a) automatically (based on motion sensors, etc.) or (b) when you’re connected to Bluetooth in your car.

As our personal injury lawyers know—and remember, we are lawyers, not tech experts!—the “While Connected to Car Bluetooth” setup will likely be the easiest. When you get into your car’s driver seat and your phone automatically connects to your car’s Bluetooth, the Do Not Disturb While Driving feature will activate. The “automatic” setting could be problematic, as it would—because it is based on speed—also block calls/texts/messages when you’re on a train or riding as a passenger in someone else’s car, both circumstances during which you’d otherwise want access to your phone.

If you have any questions about the risks associated with texting while driving, or if you have any question about any other personal injury issue, please contact our Delray Beach personal injury lawyers at Aronberg, Aronberg & Green. To schedule a free consultation, please call 561-266-9191. With offices in Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Wellington, we are ready and able to assist you.