Mom's App Gets Kids' Hands off Phone and on the Wheel
Talking and texting while driving can be especially dangerous for teens. Until now.
Updated 10:43 AM EDT, Wed, Oct 14, 2009
How can you keep your teen from texting or talking on the phone while driving? A Darien mother says she has the solution.
Darcy Ahl developed iZup, the first product from her Illume Software, she tells the Connecticut Post.
It's a software program that works on smart phones with GPS. The GPS detects the speed of the phone in a moving vehicle and when it reaches 5 miles per hour, the phone shuts down the handset and forwards all messages and texts for later retrieval. Missed calls and messages appear when the car comes to a full stop.
Ahl tells the newspaper she got the idea in 2006 when her son first got his driver's license. The two were on I-95 when he swerved across the road trying to retrieve a ringing cell phone in his pocket. Nothing happened, but Ahl says it was clear to her that something needed to be done.
A 2007 study by Nationwide Insurance found drivers ages 16-24 were more likely than any other age group to use an electronic device while driving.
The iZup will be available online next month for $4.95 a month or $49.95 a year.
First Published: Oct 12, 2009 12:13 PM EDT
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