While operating a mobile device with one hand, what is it that you suppose people are doing with the other? I mean, do you think that in at least a few cases their other hand is involved in a primary task that should have their attention? In today’s litigious society and in markets where a contributory negligence defense could somehow place fault on the actual device for allowing it's operator to be distracted (<I don’t agree with this, but it happens), I'm not sure it is a good idea for a manufacturer to promote one handed operation of a smart phone. It is bad enough with just SMS >> EXAMPLES << imagine if people were booking hotel rooms, looking up lyrics to songs they just heard, or Googling recipes in order to decide if they need to stop at the market for ingredients on the way home while, all while they hurtle down the road @ 60 miles per hour while supposedly operating a 1, 1/2 ton vehicle. It will be a while before lawsuits start hitting the news from the many injured or killed when a Los Angelos commuter rail train crashed with a freight rail and 25 people died. Just recently there was a Washington DC subway accident that killed 9. In both cases a possible cause stated was "operator distracted while text messaging". Although the investigations are not complete or may be found inconclusive, perhaps enough attention has been given to texting as a possible cause that a device manufacturer and/or a service provider could be named in a few of those civil actions. Just a thought.
wtop.com WASHINGTON - Three days after the crash on Metro's Red Line, investigators are trying to determine how much operator-error factored into the tragic accident. There has been some speculation about whether the operator, Jeanice McMillan, was using her cell phone when the train collided with a stopped train during the afternoon rush hour, killing herself and eight others. Metro General Manager John Catoe tells WTOP the cell phone was not an issue. "We know where her cell phone was -- it was not on her. It was in a backpack." He says all signs are showing that the operator did everything she could to prevent the crash. "The train itself was trying to stop for several hundred feet," Catoe says. "There's not one letter of evidence that our operator did anything to cause the accident."...