![]() ![]() ![]() He was charged with “use of an illegal device” and was told to knock it off. That Florida guy who was hit with the $48,000 fine apparently had been jamming people’s cellphones on the freeway for a couple of years. No one at the FCC responded to my repeated requests for comment. ![]() The point is that there are potential solutions out there, as long as federal authorities are open to change. Marwan Krunz, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Arizona, said it also may be feasible to develop jamming technology that blocks incoming signals but doesn’t prevent outbound calls, which would address the issue of emergency situations. Maybe instead we equip all cellphones so that if their sensors and cameras detect motion, or if they see that the user is rapidly raising and lowering their eyes while driving, they don’t permit texting. Maybe we don’t want to go the jamming route. This is technically feasible, he said, “but it would be a challenging design.” ![]() Lee Swindlehurst, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Irvine, is “to find a sweet spot where only the driver’s device is jammed,” regardless of where he or she holds their phone. “If you’re texting and driving now, you’ll use whatever wingspan you have to get around the jamming technology,” he said. Charles Clancy, executive director of the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech, had the same thought. “This might lead to a situation that’s even more dangerous than the one we’re trying to prevent,” he said. Humphreys noted, correctly, that some knuckle-dragging drivers (my words, not his) would be tempted to skirt the jamming field by holding their phone at arm’s length or leaning way back in their seat. However, there’s always the human factor. He said the jammer could use algorithms to adjust its output relative to changes in cell signal strength as a vehicle moves, so the jamming field remained consistent. “Properly calibrated, the jamming would be enough to overpower the driver’s phone near the steering wheel but not quite enough to overpower passengers’ phones.” “It could be done,” said Todd Humphreys, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. What if, most importantly, it didn’t mess with law enforcement or emergency calls? What if that technology could be flexible enough to not interfere with medical devices such as pacemakers or insulin pumps? Or with streaming-music services? These obviously raise public-safety questions.īut what if small-scale jamming technology could be installed in a steering wheel with a range of just inches - not enough to affect surrounding vehicles, or even other occupants of the car, but sufficient to keep drivers from being stupid? The agency is living in a world where low-power signal jammers might have a range of about 30 feet, while more advanced gear could block all transmissions within the size of a football field. “In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be intensifying our efforts through partnerships with law enforcement agencies to crack down on those who continue to violate the law.” Michele Ellison, chief of the agency’s Enforcement Bureau, says in a statement on the web page. “Jamming devices create serious safety risks,” P. Jammers can also interfere with law enforcement communications.” The FCC states in no uncertain terms that “these devices pose serious risks to critical public safety communications, and can prevent you and others from making 911 and other emergency calls. It says that “federal law prohibits the operation, marketing or sale of any type of jamming equipment, including devices that interfere with cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS), police radar, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and wireless networking services (Wi-Fi).” He emailed me a link to an FCC page addressing the issue. “We can all agree that hands on the wheel and eyes on the road continue to be critical to safe driving,” he said, adding that cellphones “were never designed to be used while driving.”īut there’s only so much the industry can do, Goodman insisted. ![]()
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