Former cyclist left in a wheelchair pushes for phones to automatically lock inside cars

‘We’re addicted to our devices’: Cyclist who was left in a wheelchair by a distracted driver pushes for phones to AUTOMATICALLY lock inside cars

  • A former cyclist in a wheelchair is now pushing for automatically locked phones
  • Cyclist Graham Walters was hit by a distracted driver’s car at 80 km/hr 
  • Klaus Bartosch asks Google and Apple to enable automatic phone lock in cars
  • He believes this prevents drivers from getting distracted with calls or texts 
  • ‘The truth is, we are addicted to these devices. We can’t put them down,’ he says 

A former cyclist left in a wheelchair is now campaigning for Google and Apple to enable automatic phone lock whenever people are inside their vehicles.

Now a safe driving advocate in Queensland, Graham Walters told The Today Show of his own traumatic experience in an accident that involved texting and driving. 

Mr Walters was cycling just outside the fog line in Moreton Bay, Queensland, when someone – who was, according to him, distracted with her phone while driving – crashed into him at 80 km/hr.

  

Safe driving advocates Klaus Bartosch and Graham Walters (pictured) push for phones to lock automatically in vehicle

His companion, Klaus Bartosch, is also campaigning for the automatic smartphone lock. He believes this will prevent drivers from getting distracted with incoming calls and texts.

The feature already exists in smartphones, but Mr Bartosch is pushing for Google and Apple to take matters into their own hands by making it a required automatic feature instead.

This way, drivers will not have to enable this feature manually every time they get into the car.

Disabling the feature on their own phone is also simple. It merely requires them to unlock their phone as one normally would. This is useful for passengers in the vehicle.

Mr Bartosch also explained on The Today Show that when that phone is unlocked, a warning will pop up on the screen, reminding the user that using their phone is deemed unsafe when driving. Once the user clicks, ‘OK’, the feature is disabled.

‘It’s a very simple change – one that Google and Apple could do very, very simply – would become, I think, globally, probably the most profound campaign for educating people about the dangers of using these devices while in their car,’ He said. 

The feature already exists in smartphones, but Mr Bartosch is pushing for Google and Apple to take matters into their own hands by making it a required automatic feature instead

The feature already exists in smartphones, but Mr Bartosch is pushing for Google and Apple to take matters into their own hands by making it a required automatic feature instead

Mr Walters was cycling just outside the fog line in preparation for an event in Europe when someone  crashed into him at 80 km/hr, leaving him with a fractured spine and in a wheelchair ever since 

Mr Walters was cycling just outside the fog line in preparation for an event in Europe when someone crashed into him at 80 km/hr, leaving him with a fractured spine and in a wheelchair ever since 

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