AT&T has launched a national campaign to make teens more aware of the danger posed by texting while driving. The effort “features true stories about text messages that were sent or received before someone’s life was altered, or even ended, because of texting and driving.” Read more:

Phillies Star Shane Victorino Joins AT&T in Reminding Students Texting ‘Can Wait’

The Minnesota Department of Transportation declared August 5 Distraction Free Driving Day. They detailed several types of distractions to be aware of including cell phones use, adjusting music and other controls, eating, navigation and children, among others. The DOT also classified 4 categories of distraction: visual – looking away from the road, physical – taking hands off the wheel, cognitive – thinking about or focusing on something other than driving, and combination of all of the above. Texting while driving is one of the most dangerous activities because it falls into the last category. Click here for more information.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) are partnering to sponsor Drive Safely Work Week 2010 from October 4-8. There is a tool kit for employers available for download from their site. The DOT is also holding a Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, D.C. September 21st. The goal of the event is to build awareness and have companies enact new policies or enforce existing ones. Click here for more information.

The number of teens and young adults with cell phones has increased astronomically over the last decade, leading to an increase in distracted driving accidents. While phone calls can be aided by the use of hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets, texts and emails still take driver’s eyes off the road. Some apps will block calls and text messages while the car is in motion. Another option that allows the driver to stay connected and informed is the DriveSafe.ly application, which reads texts and emails aloud. iSpeech (creator of DriveSafe.ly) CEO Heath Ahrens explains that an upcoming version of the application will even allow response by voice command. Click here to read the story from WAVY, or see the video below.

Another review of the DriveSafe.ly application shows off the great looking interface as well as the options screen. This review of the version for Android phones demonstrates how simple it is to use the application and all the customizable settings. Click here for the DroidBoards site and see below for video.

With texting while driving continuing to be a growing problem on the roads today, BBerryDog reviews the DriveSafe.ly mobile application on BlackBerry phones. The review gets into many of the options available on the different versions of the app, created to prevent driver distraction and save lives. Click here to read the full review.

Drivers that text while driving have their eyes off the road almost half the time. With such distraction, it is no wonder that cell phone use has contributed to a large number of accidents, injuries and fatalities on the streets. The DriveSafe.ly application solves this problem by automatically reading texts and emails aloud, allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road. It can also respond automatically, notifying the sender that the driver is unavailable and will reply later. Click here for the full story from WGEM.

The DriveSafe.ly UI has recently been updated with a new look. Check it out! We have gotten some great feedback on the change as many users have commented. In addition to the UI update, we have also released our new Bluetooth activation feature (automatically turns the app on/off when you open/close your Bluetooth).

Since its consumer launch 7 months ago, DriveSafe.ly^TM has officially read over 100,000,000 text and email messages to drivers free of charge– helping to keep their eyes on the road. To date, over 4 million people have used the app, making DriveSafe.ly^TM the leader in software solutions aimed to stop texting while driving.

Now DriveSafe.ly^TMis available as a powerful Enterprise solution aimed at combating distracted driving for fleets, mobile workforces, mobile sales forces and other businesses seeking to institute safe driving policies. The Enterprise edition is feature-rich and includes full message encryption, policy management, easy device swapping and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server (BES) deployment. All of these added features come with what’s already standard of DriveSafe.ly^TM and the unbeatable voice quality no one can match. If any business is seeking to maintain productivity while instituting safe driving policies, DriveSafe.ly is the only choice.

A powerful and touching PSA. The following story is true and has been put together by a group known as Zero Fatalities. Their goal is to eliminate traffic deaths caused by various forms of distracted driving.