A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that distracted driving was the leading cause in 448,000 accidents and 5,474 highway deaths in 2009. That represents a 16% increase from 2008.
That increase is one reason why U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood has proposed mandatory warnings in automobiles about distracted driving. Lahood, like many parents today, is concerned about the growing increase of technology use in automobiles - including distractions that are being added to new cars that allow "drivers to update Facebook, surf the Web or do any number of other things instead of driving safely," Lahood said.
Even without such built-in technology, drivers today are often distracted by incoming text messages on their cell phones. The good news is that technology can also help solve this problem. New services - like DriveSafe.ly - have sprung up that eliminate the need to read text messages AND eliminate the need to respond.
Here’s how it works... You download an application to your phone. Then, when you get in your car to drive, you simply turn the application on. When you receive a text message, the application actually reads it to you... automatically... and out loud. So there’s no need to take your eyes off the road.
Better still... the application automatically sends a reply message stating that you are driving and will respond as soon as you reach a destination that allows you to safely reply.
The application can be used on a variety of phones and there are even different plans - including a free version of DriveSafe.ly as well as family and business plans.
If you receive a lot of text messages while driving or if you have a teenager of driving age, this could be one of the most important safety steps you do this year. Take a few minutes to check it out.
After all, this simple application could save your life or the life of someone you know.
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