There is no such thing as a perfect system and the more complex the system the further the best possible solution diverges from perfect. This is as true in human systems as it is for technological ones. A work group, or a company, or a society rely more on people being willing to strive for the benefit of the group than on rules or systems designed to force them into a course of action. The inherent imperfections mean that anyone that wants to get around it can, so it only impedes those that would have acted in the desired way anyway.
Prohibition meant reasonble people couldn’t have a glass of wine with dinner while the drunks had no problems finding booze. DRM limits what comsumers can do with their property while doing nothing to prevent piracy. New corporate legislation increases the costs of honest companies while dodgy ones just find new ways to get around the laws.
It is no surprise to most intelligent people that a distracted driver is more likely to crash, and the advent of mobile phones has added to the list of possible distractions. Some concerned parents have turned to a technology that blocks cell phones from making calls when it detects the user is driving. It does this by using GPS to detect when the phone is moving over a certain speed.
I am surprised this idea made it all the way to production without the obvious flaw being spotted. Moving at driving speed does not mean you are driving, and there are times when you might want your kids to be able to use their phone. Maybe when they are the passenger in a car, or on the train. Well it seems that the Washington Post came to these conclusions as well.
This technology is looking to become more pernicious as well, with the possibility of adding in tracking options including notifying parents if their child steps out of a defined area (anyone seen Running Man?). The rules of inadequate systems work the same in this situation. The system will put unnesessary restrictions on kids that are well behaved and those kids that want to get around the system will simply avoid it. Often the way to ensure the right thing happens is to give people the option to do things wrong.