Don't Text and Drive

Phone Down, Eyes Up
Texting and driving is like playing Russian Roulette

You are 23x more likely to crash if you text while driving. According to the NHTSA, in 2009 an estimated 20 percent of 1,517,000 injury crashes were reported to have involved distracted driving.

Teen drivers are more likely than other age groups to be involved in a fatal crash where distraction is reported. In 2009, 16% of teen drivers involved in a fatal crash were reported to have been distracted.

Distracted Driving News (US Government site) >>

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Yes - there is an app for this

Yes. And there is an app to stop it.

We’ve all done it. Tried to fit in a quick message while driving the car. The problem – we’re very distracted and we’re very dangerous.

Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. If you are traveling 55 mph, that is the same as driving the length of an entire football field, blind-folded.*

With new laws in place and reduced mobile phone usage on the road, it is now painfully easy to spot the offenders. They weave, they brake late (or early), and quite often are stuck at the light when it is as green as it is going to get. So even though there are fines for using your cell phone while driving, it still is causing accidents and deaths across the nation.

While we can’t remove the temptation, there are some apps that can control the calls.

There’s an app for that >>
One text or call could wreck it all.

You can safely end the practice of texting while driving with a number of different apps:

tXtBlocker blocks texting and speaking while a vehicle is in motion and sends an automatic “Driving” message to anyone who texts or calls.

tXtBlocker can also be customized to block text messages or calls at certain times of the day or near certain locations, such as a school or workplace. 911 calls are always allowed. tXtBlocker costs $6.99 for a single-user plan and $9.99 a month for a family plan. It works with most Android and BlackBerry devices.

Textecution™ kills texting functions while driving.

Textecution sits quietly in the background and allows you use your phone normally. Once it detects that the phone is travelling faster than 10 mph, Textecution disables the phone’s texting feature, so text messages can’t be sent or received. Once the phone is at rest or travelling slower than 10 mph, the texting feature is restored. There is a one-time fee of $29.99 to download the app, which is good for the life of a phone number. Android devices only.

iZUP - defers calls to voice mail and holds text messages while the vehicle is in motion.

iZUP is another app that monitors speed and other critical conditions to determine whether a phone is in a moving vehicle. Once a predetermined speed is reached, iZUP holds text messages, e-mails and calls while you’re driving, yet always allows unlimited access to 911 and a list of authorized phone numbers. iZUP is $2.95 per month for a single user and $5.95 per month for a family plan.

There are also corporate options.

Any of the above can help you control your texting. And that of your teen drivers. Let’s make the roads a little safer by reducing the distractions.

*From Distraction.gov

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