Category: Technology News

Theresa May is encouraging the public to shame friends and family practicing this distracted driving.

According to British Prime Minister Theresa May, drivers taking part in mobile phone use should be shamed by family and friends. She equated the danger of smartphone use behind the wheel to drunk driving. Her goal is to make the practice socially unacceptable in order to make roads safer.

Prime Minister May’s comments are not without support from scientific study from many countries.

Many governments have been watching growing lists of statistics being added to other evidence about mobile phone use by drivers. In many regions of the world, using a smartphone – whether talking, texting or for some other purpose – causes distraction that is the same or more dangerous than driving drunk.

PM May called for people to make this practice socially unacceptable in order to save lives on U.K. roads. She wants people to shame their friends and family who would use their mobile devices while they drive.

This represents the first time her government has addressed mobile phone use distracting drivers.

The statement arrived at a time when the number of crashes – some of which included fatalities – are rising in the country due to distracted drivers using mobile phones. She addressed drivers of cars, trucks and every other type of vehicle. She also stated that there is an upcoming review that will be looking to stiffen the penalties for dangerous driving if appropriate.

The May government also revealed more details with regards to its own intentions for boosting distracted driving penalties. They are aiming to set an immediate six point penalty to anyone caught using a mobile phone while operating a car or other vehicle. Moreover, this penalty will not allow for exceptions or exemptions. Therefore, first-time offenders and young drivers will not be let off the hook.

When May spoke of mobile phone use by drivers behind the wheel, she said that public awareness of the dangers are key. “Just as we have made it socially unacceptable to drink and drive, so we need to do the same with using a mobile phone while driving.”

Near field communication could play a role in reducing the effectiveness of falsified visas and passports.

A new partnership may soon mean that a combination of hologram and NFC technology could fight counterfeit government documents. The companies involved are Thinfilm, a printed electronics firm, and Holoptica, an authentication solutions provider.

The end product could potentially be a holographic NFC tagged chip used as an anti-counterfeiting solution.

This use of NFC technology in combination with holograms could create a government document that can’t be forged. Moreover, it could also be possible to invalidate a legitimate document in the case of theft.

The SpeedTap tag is produced by Thinfilm. It includes an NFC chip that would make it possible for consumers and government officials to connect to the certified digital replica of a document. This way, a single tap of an NFC-enabled smartphone could be all that is required to verify a document’s authenticity.

If this use of holograms and NFC technology works, it could save over $10 billion (US) each year.

The black market costs an estimated US$10 billion in forged and counterfeit passports, work permits and visas every year. Near field communication chips worked into these documents could mean that fraud would be much closer to being eliminated.

According to the Holoptica CEO, George Perkous, “Combining Thinfilm’s SpeedTap tags with Holoptica’s high-security SmartMark hologram creates a highly effective yet economical solution in the fight against counterfeiters.” He went on to say that the company is looking forward to seeing the outcome of the role played by the NFC tags in boosting document security on a global scale.

Thinfilm CEO Davor Sutija explained that “Document fraud costs governments and businesses billions of dollars each year and directly contributes to the growth of global terrorist activity.” He expressed that his company is glad to be working on the NFC technology and hologram solution as a part of a meaningful anti-counterfeiting strategy.

Sutija feels that this effort will contribute to making the world a safer place for everyone. It will help to minimize the risk of counterfeiting among important government documents in countries worldwide.