• 27
  • January
    2012

Smartphones have been receiving a fair amount of blame for the ongoing problem of distracted driving causing car accidents. This has prompted some software designers to seek out ways for users to use their phones to keep them focused on the road. Two new kinds of apps take opposite strategies to solve distracted driving, as one seeks to stop all cell phone use while the other actively encourages it.

One such app that may prove beneficial for parents of teenagers glued to their phones at all times. Sprint offers a service to customers called "Sprint Drive First," and for $2/month, the phone will shut down automatically when it is in a vehicle driving over 10 miles per hour. They also offer an override button, but the use of this override will show up on the phone bill. Another company is offering a similar type of app called CellControl, which is available to download for any service provider.

The other new kind of app is called iOnRoad, and it takes a completely different approach to cell phone use and distracted driving. This app claims to turn the cell phone into a safety tool whereby the user attaches the phone to the windshield while driving. The phone will then offer collision warnings, send out alerts if the car drifts into other lanes or gets too close to other vehicles, and will read aloud text messages when received. The app won an innovation award at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show and offers a more proactive solution for drivers unwilling to completely shut down their phones while driving