Software Could Prevent Texting And Web-Browsing While Driving

Though thirty states, including California, have banned the practice of texting while driving, many drivers text and surf the web during their rush hour commutes anyway. This practice, however, may no longer be physically possible. According to USA Today, two companies have partnered up together to develop a software that would disable texting, email, and web-browsing while you are driving.

Manage Mobility announced today a partnership with Texas firm WebSafety Inc to provide software to government agencies and businesses that would prohibit drivers from using texting and Web-browsing functions of a wireless phone in moving vehicles.

"We are being asked by our customers what to do on this sort of thing, especially since October ... when President Obama issued the federal order banning federal employees from texting while operating government-owned vehicles," Stacy Chisum, Manage Mobility's vice president of sales told USA Today.

The program, dubbed CellSafety, was originally developed in response to the concern over teens texting. However, the companies realized that there was a bigger market as corporations are increasingly concerned about their liability by distracted drivers, especially with younger people entering the workforce.

"We believe that employers are becoming fully aware of the extension of liability" for crashes caused by employees texting while driving, WebSafety CEO Rowland said.

The application uses a phone's GPS to determine when a vehicle is moving, blocking the ability to use web-based functions and text messaging when the car is going faster than 5 or 10 mph.