Road Trip Mobile Device Sensibility Cues
I’m not exactly in that bracket of people who will buy a mobile device that’s as expensive as an iPhone X or something along those lines, but being a traveller kind of brings into focus the immense value contained in one’s smartphone in particular. Your phone is pretty much like an extension of yourself, for better or worse, even in your everyday life. I for one use my phone for navigation while driving – Google Maps has a great navigation app which essentially renders the consideration of getting something like a stand-alone, dedicate- function GPS or Sat Nav gadget irrelevant.
Although I do indeed use a mount in addition to deploying other sensibility cues so that I cover the dangers associated with the use of one’s phone while driving, the subsequent accessibility makes it very easy to fall into the trap of really getting into using your phone in other ways. You quite easily get tempted to respond to a text, while taking a call is perhaps not quite as bad since you can use a hands-free kit for that.
With all that said in any case, here are some road-trip mobile device usage sensibility cues to implement:
Using a mount
I guess I’ve already introduced the sensibility behind using a mount, like one of those which Uber drivers use. It’s a great way to ensure that your phone is placed in a position that is very similar to that of where the Onboard Computer (OBC) or integrated control system would be. Car manufacturers generally select the best position as a consideration of safety. Since you can pretty much choose where the mount will go, you can tweak it to find the perfect position which takes into account ease of use and safety.
Hands-free functionality
If you have been told that you can’t text without physically interacting with your phone, then you might have probably been misinformed. Most smartphones have a speech-to-text feature, which recognizes and translates spoken language into text through computational linguistics. This can enable you to reply to texts while driving without any distractions. Likewise, the text-to-speech feature can come in handy. Voice prompts during navigation can make for a good example. The text-to-speech feature here can dictate the directions from text messages. To get the most out of either of the two features, however, you need to ensure that your phone microphones and speakers are in good shape. Otherwise, you would not be able to give instructions or receive any. If you have been noticing muffled or distorted sound while using your speakers or microphones, it is time to take your phone to a Phone Doctor who can diagnose the issue and fix it. If you want to take full advantage of the aforementioned features, you can either get your current phone repaired or buy a new one. While the first option may count as a more economical choice, the latter may not be!
Last word
You can test how your reaction time gets affected when you’re using your phone while driving at https://www.kwik-fit.com/driven-to-distraction, put together by provider of automotive parts, Kwik Fit. It’s a fun game with which to test your reaction time, but it’ll put into perspective just how much of a risk you’re probably taking when you elect to use to your phone while driving.
It’s all about taking care of your own safety and being courteous to other road users.