Technology to Combat Teen Distracted Driving
by admin on 18/01/12 at 1:42 am
Parents worried about the alarming statistics regarding teenager motor vehicle crashes caused by distracted driving are tapping new technology to keep their young drivers from texting, surfing and even talking behind the wheel.
Applications that prevent people from using their mobile phones while a vehicle is moving also are gaining popularity with corporate fleet managers. And, a new federal regulation that took effect January 1st penalizes commercial truck and bus drivers up to $2,750 each time they’re caught reaching for or dialing a phone while driving.
Here is a list of the kind of available technology:
•Software that uses on-phone GPS or in-vehicle Bluetooth systems to determine when the vehicle is moving. The mobile device is disabled by the software when the vehicle is moving. On example is iZup, which costs only $20 per year to block a cellphone when driving. It saves voice calls to voice mail and holds text messages and other data interactions while a vehicle is moving.
•Devices that connect with the vehicle’s on-board diagnostics port or integrate into vehicle electronics or infotainment platform, shutting off gadgets while the vehicle is moving. They include Cellcontrol, Key2SafeDriving and Taser International’s Protector.
•Detection, jamming, monitoring and sensors. They include Trinity-Noble’s Guardian Angel, which locks the keys of a cellphone when a vehicle is going over a pre-set speed.
Any parent who thinks that any of the above technology will be an easy panacea is naive. The technology currently does not distinguish between drivers and passengers. This means that parents have to be willing to ban cell phone use by their teens even when the teen is a passenger in the parents’ vehicles. OMG, you might have to put down your own cell phone and talk to your kids.
