Ron Schenone

Don’t Want To Text While Driving? Here Is An Easy Answer

Posted by on Jan 19, 2011 | 13 Comments

Depending on which survey or poll you wish to look at, texting while driving could be hazardous to your health. Since technology has caused the problem, it is only natural that technology solves the problem as well. If drivers opt in, they will have the ability to turn-off their phones [aka driving mode] while driving, so that they will not receive text nor phone calls. T-Mobile is launching a safe driving application called DriveSmart Plus that allows subscribers to do take advantage of this technology to hopefully make their driving experience safer.

The only problem with the application is that the user must recognize they have a problem when texting or talking while driving, and need to opt in. According to one article it also states that:

“T-Mobile will offer DriveSmart Plus initially only for one phone–the LG Optimus T–but said it plans to expand the service soon. DriveSmart Basic, a free version of the app, is available for free on some T-Mobile phones, although that app requires users to tell the app when they are driving. DriveSmart Plus, the new premium program, will cost $4.99 per month and covers all lines on a subscriber’s account.”

So how does the application know when you are driving? The app uses GPS to determine when your movement appear to be while driving. The unfortuante thing is that the app is limited to a single model phone. Once it becomes available not only from T-Mobile, but other cell providers, we can expect more availability for the person who wished to curtail texting and talking while driving.

T-Mobile is also going to be offering an application called FamilyWhere for subscribers of their Family plan. This will allow parents to locate any of their children who are part of the plan.

What do you think og these ideas?

Comments welcome.

Source – All Things Digital

Source – TechCrunch

  • Dick

    An easier answer? Don’t do it.

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hi Dick,
      Easy for you and me because we don’t do it. No text message nor cell phone call is worth risking your life
      or the life of someone else. But there are folks out there that are addicted to their phones and are on it
      constantly. :-(
      Have a good day.

  • Dick

    Addicted to a phone? I believe that is nothing more than a bad habit, like nail biting. If we allow it to be an addiction they will be applying for Disability payments and my taxes will go up.

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hello Dick,
      Good point. :-) We don’t need to pay anymore taxes!

  • Buffet

    My advice for anyone wishing to not send text messages? Easy. Be a real man, not a limp-wristed sissy. My rule of thumb on any questionable activity – Would you see John Rambo doing it? NO! Obviously I don’t either. Real men speak their mind – directly, not fiddle with some Lilliputian-size keyboard! Get a life milquetoasts!

  • kolby386

    The answer is obvious:
    Turn your phone off, or switch it to silent mode while driving.
    I assure you that 99% of the time, your conversation is not so important that it can’t wait until you get home, and unless you have some sort of death wish, it’s most certainly not more important than your life.

  • Robert Echten

    If you have this problem and you have to tell the app you’re driving, you probably won’t.

    And what happens if you have the Plus option and you’re in a car, but not driving (ie. someone else is driving) or are in a bus or train? Would there be an option to turn the app off? If so, that kinda defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hello Robert,
      Good points.

  • http://www.getizup.com Shona Rosenblum

    There are a lot of applications out there dedicated to comabating distracted driving and all of them are struggling to find the right combination of services to offer users. I think iZUP (www.getizup.com) does a pretty good job with this balance but the bottom line is, no application can save you from yourself. Still, it seems fitting that the solution to our technology addiction could be technology itself.

  • http://www.OTTERapp.com Erik Wood

    Text and Drive specifically was the cause of 16,141 highway deaths from 2001 to 2007 and over 200,000 non fatal accidents last year. For every 6 seconds a driver spends texting, 4.6 of those seconds are with their eyes off the road, which makes texting the most dangerous cell phone activity anyone can engage in while operating a 5,000 pound piece of steel and glass. If technology is going to help, it should get ANY age driver’s eyes back on the road where they belong.

    I decided to do something about distracted driving after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me by a texting mom. Instead of an expensive shackle with recurring fees that locks down phones and alienates the user (especially teens), I built a tool called OTTER that is a simple GPS based, texting auto reply app for smartphones. It also silences call ringtones while driving unless you have a bluetooth enabled. Its an easy way for any user (NOT just teens) to manage that text and drive temptation.

    Erik Wood, owner
    OTTER LLC
    OTTER app (four dollars with no recurring fees)

  • http://www.gavinroskamp.com/ Gavin Roskamp

    I’m personally at what everyone calls the most dangerous driving stage. I’ll be getting my license in just over a month, and according to every single article I’ve read, I will apparently be a rampaging pubescent monster who finds it necessary to drive 100 mph everywhere while texting and talking on the phone.

    Yeah right.

    I could go on about how I beat the odds and had a safe drive into school for my early classes this morning on non-cleared and non-treated roads the whole way, but I’ll spare you of it. Overall, I managed pretty well. And no, I wasn’t texting.

    My biggest distraction in the car is not my phone – even if I WERE to be texting or talking, it wouldn’t be my biggest distraction. My biggest distraction is the monster in the passenger seat, being my mother. She never stops criticizing my driving, even when I’m doing nothing wrong. I’ve contemplated wrecking the car just to make her feel like she’s right. That’s how bad it is.

    Anyway, enough of the unfairness of being classified as a horrible driver. Let’s get a solution to texting drivers. Oh, here’s one! Don’t do it! Tada! When I first got my driver’s permit, I already had much driving experience from being brought up on a farm and being expected to move vehicles for people. It’s part of most rural teen’s lives. Did I text when I got my permit? To be honest, yes. I tried texting using my old texting phone while I was driving. To be honest, I didn’t like it. Even though I still had both hands on the wheel, I kept messing up my texts because I couldn’t look at the screen long enough. So I gave up on it. I don’t see why people find the need to text while driving. It’s hard. Do you really think you’ll be able to see that semi truck when you’re staring at your screen? Don’t think so.

    So how do we fix this? We don’t do it. It’s as simple as that. No matter how often you text while driving, you need to stop. You can’t make accurate texts anyway.

    Oh, and while I’m at it, GPS devices are almost as distracting as texting. Seriously.

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hello Gavin, Thank you for sharing your driving experience with us.
      I sincerely hope that once you get your license, and your mother out of the car,
      that your driving experience will be pleasurable. Safe driving and take care.
      Regards, Ron

  • Rhaspun

    Sounds good but you’ll need to plug in the charger. GPS on phones just eat up the battery. Best thing is to not text while driving. Over the years only once have I really needed some information right away. But even while using a blue tooth device I noticed that a conversation takes away my concentration from driving.. A lot of people think talking on the phone doesn’t affect them but so far I’ve been hit almost 4 times in the last because the person was talking on the phone. I saw them talking. They can’t seem to drive straight.