DriveSafe.ly is a mobile application that reads text (SMS) messages and emails aloud in real time and automatically responds without drivers touching the mobile phone.
A number of companies are considering enforcing policies regarding cell phone use. The Pittsburgh Tribune looks further into the growing trend.
Cyndi Saxe Schmidt parks her cell phone while driving, but she can’t hang up on the idea of a mobile office.
“I do so much of my calling while I’m in the car,” said Schmidt, broker of record who oversees three Pittsburgh-area Keller Williams Realty offices. She uses hands-free technology that connects her phone to the car radio. “I hated to hold the phone while I’m driving. It’s just not safe.”
More companies are taking steps to curb their employees’ hand-held cell phone habits in the car, experts said.
“It’s getting to be a hot issue,” said Phyllis Hartman, founder and president of PGHR Consulting., a human resources firm in the North Hills. “Companies are becoming concerned about the safety of their employees and the liability issues.”
Seattle - News service, KING 5, reports on the fast approaching reality that texting while driving is not welcome and soon to be illegal. >> Full Story
Trenton — New Jersey’s highway safety agency says police have issued nearly 10,000 tickets a month in the two years since the state banned motorists from texting or using hand-held cell phones while driving. >>Full Story
Thanks to your support, we won the About.com’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best BlackBerry App!
Below is a word direct from About and a link to other category winners and runners up. We couldn’t have done it without you.
“This is another application I haven’t yet had a chance to try, but I look forward to testing it out. DriveSafe.ly is a free application that offers a safer way to use your BlackBerry smartphone while driving: It reads text messages and e-mails out loud to you, and lets you respond by voice, without ever touching the phone. DriveSafe.ly earned the 2010 About.com Reader’s Choice Award for Best BlackBerry app with 77 percent of the vote, easily besting all of its competition, which included AOL’s Instant Messenger, Vlingo, and more.” >> More
ATLANTA, Ga. — He’s a busy president of an Atlanta company, and he depends on texting and e-mailing. But John J. Williams decided he will never again text while driving.
“Only because I have first-hand knowledge, now, of somebody that got killed because of this.”
Williams’ first-hand knowledge may make him a witness against his former girlfriend, Lori Reineke, who is denying what police are now saying about her. She was accused in Gwinnett County last week of vehicular homicide while texting — hitting and killing a pedestrian on Sugarloaf Parkway, on October 30, because she was distracted, because she was texting while driving. >> Full Story
DriveSafe.ly is rapidly approaching 3 million users. We are on the verge of hitting another major milestone and we have only you to thank. We couldn’t have achieved this without your support! Thank you for using DriveSafe.ly and stay right here for new exciting news from the team.
Topeka — A bill to ban texting while driving advanced to final action Friday in the Kansas Senate after an often emotional debate.
The bill would make it a traffic infraction on the first offense, subject to a $100 fine.
Supporters say the ban would improve traffic safety, especially among younger drivers who become distracted while communicating behind the wheel.
However, Sen. Chris Steineger, a Kansas City Democrat, calls the bill “dumb” and says it was introduced only because it was a popular topic.
Sen. Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican, who sponsored the bill, said he didn’t do it to be popular but because of his experience as an emergency medical specialist.
