Cellular services try to stay one step ahead of TheHood

The NY Times has this story today:

Cellular carriers, having spent years trying to blanket the nation with phone service, are now working on ways to stop people from getting calls and texts when they are behind the wheel.
The technology is aimed at curbing dangerous distractions by temporarily interrupting service, short-circuiting the temptation for people to respond to the chime of their phones...
The services being tested and deployed are voluntary and can be overridden if a driver needs to use the phone for an emergency. They face real challenges in that the technology, for now, cannot distinguish whether a phone belongs to a driver or a passenger — or, for that matter, a bus rider.

Although significant strides need to made to improve technology to voluntarily minimze smart phone distractions to drivers, don't think that any achievements will satisfy the safety nazis, starting with US DOT secretary Ray LaHood.