Responsible Driving In The Age Of Smartphones: Applied Research For Improving Road Safety In The Motor City

Smartphones have become ubiquitous commodities in our contemporary lives and essential to our daily experiences. With limited public transportation in the United States and dependence on cars, the combination of smartphones and driving raises important questions of safety. We discuss our collaborati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human organization 2023-12, Vol.82 (4), p.382-393
Main Authors: Jung, Yuson, Sankar, Andrea, Carter, Kaitlin, Chang, Yen-Ting, Dean, Bianca, Kruso, Travis, Linn, Colleen, Lock, Emily, Meiners, Craig, Sanford, Molly, Scott, Haley, Walker, Jasmine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied research
Automobiles
Collaboration
Commodities
Driving
Everyday life
Focus groups
Genetic engineering
Mobile phones
Personhood
Product development
Public transportation
Relatives
Road safety
Safety
Smartphones
Software
Text messaging
Young adults
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Summary:Smartphones have become ubiquitous commodities in our contemporary lives and essential to our daily experiences. With limited public transportation in the United States and dependence on cars, the combination of smartphones and driving raises important questions of safety. We discuss our collaboration with Chevrolet-GM in Detroit in product development and user experience research, namely beta-testing a mobile phone app that was developed by Chevrolet to eliminate texting while driving, thereby improving car and road safety. We illustrate that the heightened awareness of distracted driving to self and others created spaces for young adult drivers to demonstrate their moral personhood through the care of and for others in their individual use of the app and in their promotion of its use to family members and friends. The practical applications of this finding resulted in a successful app product and its launch campaign, which incorporated the emerging insights from this study.
ISSN:0018-7259
1938-3525
DOI:10.17730/1938-3525-82.4.382