So let's be honest. Who here texts and drives? Anybody? Bueller?
Well I definitely used to. Granted, I had a phone that had keys on the front. So because my fingers knew the feel of each key, I could literally text a long message with one hand, and not even look at my phone. I loved it. I would read the messages that people would send back to me while at a stop sign or stop light.
Now that I have a phone that has a touch screen on the front and a keyboard, texting with one hand is hopeless, and I definitely would never text with my keyboard while driving (unlike many people I know.) The crazy part is that so many people text and drive. Recently here in Indiana, a law has been passed making it illegal to text and drive; if caught, the fine is $500.00. This was enforced after statistics were shown that 25 percent of crashes are caused because of people texting and driving.
With such a high percentage of crashes being caused by texting and driving, Sprint decided to step in to help make h
ighways safer. According to an article in my Google Reader called, "Sprint App Disables Phones While Driving," by Sara Yin, Sprint has made an app that parents can install on either one or all of their phones, and make it so that a phone is automatically disabled if going up to the speed of 10mph. The idea of it is actually quite brilliant; especially when you think about how many new drivers think they know everything about driving when they first start, and go ahead and text and drive. "The app determines how fast your car is going by using GPS and cell tower triangulation." If your car is detected at going more than 10mph, it automatically locks the phone. All incoming calls go to voicemail, all incoming texts are automatically responded to, and the app silences all audible notifications. As soon as a person stops driving, the phone is reactivated. If a person tries to override the lock (which they can), a notification is sent to the person who enabled the lock in the first place.
This seems like a great app; especially for parents to install on their kids' phones. There are a few interesting points in which I would like to find out more about, though. The first one would be, how would the phone know if you're a passenger or not? It would be very frustrating to have to keep unlocking your phone, and then telling your mom or dad that you did it just because you were a passenger. Another point would be to find out if the phone can tell the difference between being in a car, or say running or biking. Not that many people can text while doing those things, but I've seen enough people doing it to know that it's possible. I feel as if this could be a great app, but I would have to have answers to my questions before fully deciding what I really think of it. What do you think about it?? Also, just as a tip if you do check out the article that writes about it, the video was the most helpful for me to understand the whole thing.
This seems like a great app; especially for parents to install on their kids' phones. There are a few interesting points in which I would like to find out more about, though. The first one would be, how would the phone know if you're a passenger or not? It would be very frustrating to have to keep unlocking your phone, and then telling your mom or dad that you did it just because you were a passenger. Another point would be to find out if the phone can tell the difference between being in a car, or say running or biking. Not that many people can text while doing those things, but I've seen enough people doing it to know that it's possible. I feel as if this could be a great app, but I would have to have answers to my questions before fully deciding what I really think of it. What do you think about it?? Also, just as a tip if you do check out the article that writes about it, the video was the most helpful for me to understand the whole thing.
That does seem like a really innovative thing and I really like the concept behind it. I agree with your concerns about driver/passenger though, it was one of the first things that popped up in my head when I read this. I can't really see a way to distinguish between the two. I guess for the most part, you'd just have to deal without being able to text for the 10 minutes or whatever you're in the car. Socialize with someone in the vehicle or something.
ReplyDeleteYeah that's true. Think about going on a road trip, though. Or even just driving for a couple hours. If I was a passenger in a car, and my phone wouldn't let me text the whole time, personally, I would get really frustrated.
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