[FlyingSideKick]

I worked at T-Mobile and did some work on this very subject our studies showed that people are so addicted that unless there is a threat of jail time or drivers license suspension people will not put down their phones.

[petschge]

The deterrence effect of punishment relies on two factors: severity of the punishment when caught and the probability of getting caught. You can only up the former so much before a single stupid mistake ruins your life. But we could increase deterrence a lot by increasing the second factor. Just think about it: You a $5 fine stop you from using your phone? Right now probably not. But if it cost you $5 EVERY TIME you used your phone in the car you'd stop rather quickly.

[max76]

I don't understand why people see the possibility of a drivers license suspension as being worse than the increased risk of vehicular manslaughter.

One is a few months of decreased mobility. The other is an entire life.

[wahern]

They're not convinced that it impairs their driving.

Consider that a plurality, if not a majority of the population is convinced that they're efficient at multi-tasking, and specifically that they can perform each task as well as in isolation. But we know that almost nobody multitasks well, period, and absolutely not with equivalent performance.

[mrguyorama]

Don't forget that a vast majority of the population thinks that they are above average at $TASK, no matter what it is

[nothrabannosir]

If I had to hazard a guess: because that option is so extremely negative, that cognitive dissonance protects our brains from seriously entertaining the thought that we could ever be involved in such an accident.

[max76]

I'm unsure. Mindless anxious mind wandering (worry) often causes people to imagine worse situations and exaggerate their probably.

[flatline]

For many, many people in the US, a suspended license means loss of your job, which in turn will lead to loss of all other assets you may tentatively possess, possible dissolution of your family, etc. In terms of personal impact weighted by probability of occurrence, the penalty for loss of license may not be so far off from that of vehicular manslaughter.

[max76]

A vehicular manslaughter charge often leads to jail time. That's more likely to cause someone to lose their job.

[flatline]

Sure. But let’s say the chance of losing your license is a hundred times more likely than that of committing vehicular homicide, and the effective penalty for a homicide is 10 times worse than that for losing your license, you should be 10x more worried about losing your license.

[max76]

Most people do not think like that logically.

In addition, I believe the effective penalty for vehicular manslaughter is probably ten thousand times worse because of the psychological cost of being responsible for someone's death.

[flatline]

Indeed. Somehow this doesn’t occur to people though when they get behind the wheel of a 3000lb death machine and decide to start looking at their phone. I personally find the prospect terrifying.

[rhino369]

People assume they can handle driving while texting.

[7952]

It would be interesting to see if painting lurid stripes on the car as a punishment would help. Or require the driver to have warning sign attached in prominent places. Make it as embarrassing as possible.

[henryfjordan]

Some states have different license plate designs for people convicted of drunk driving.

Make a phone-themed one!

[dvtrn]

Can we do this for other driving offenses? Like drivers who don't signal lane changes or drive slowly in the passing lane? I'm all about publicly shaming drivers into doing better.

</sarcasm>

[ben509]

If you regularly act a certain way in public, you haven't got much ground to complain about the shame of pointing out how you act in public.

[glitcher]

Design a metal mesh to install over the entire car that acts as a Faraday cage haha.

Yeah, in practice it seems the only thing that will really work is license suspension.

[SauciestGNU]

People drive with suspended licenses all the time. What I'd really like to see upon conviction for distracted driving or drunk driving (similarly dangerous) is criminal forfeiture of the offender's vehicle and a court order prohibiting the offender from owning or possessing an automobile.

[zamalek]

It's weird how humans don't care about the threat of death. I'm not being sarcastic, we clearly don't.

[ben509]

It's a conditioned suppression. Otherwise fight or flight would be kicking in every time you crossed the street.

[AnaniasAnanas]

> Otherwise fight or flight would be kicking in every time you crossed the street.

That exact thing does happen to me. The drivers in my country are atrocious even if we do not consider the use of phones. Having to cross the street is quite stressful and do not dare to do so without running, even if I am in a another country with more sane drivers.

[bluedino]

How does the joke go? You almost get hit by another car and you freak out and are amped up the rest of the trip. But doze off and drive on the shoulder, you just go back to sleep after a few minutes.

[dustindiamond]

So, like punishment for a DUI?