14 DAY TRIAL // That using the mobile phone while driving is dangerous is already a known fact. Actually, studies have shown that drivers that are texting on their mobile are more impaired than those that have been drinking or abusing substances. This is indeed reason for concern, especially if you, as a driver, care about your life and the life of those around you.
In most countries, laws are already in place, preventing users from talking on their mobiles while driving, but this does not apply to texting. A solution to this is the possibility of talking and driving at the same time, while making use of a handsfree device – and most new cars come with Bluetooth support. However, with all this, accidents still happen.
A Canadian company, Aegis Mobility, provides yet another solution for this with its DriveAssistT software. When the software is running on the subscriber's mobile device, it detects if the user is driving or not. If it’s the former case, the program signals Aegis ContextEngine, and all calls and text messages outbound are then suppressed from the mobile network, except 911, of course.
However, there is also the option of creating a list of approved callers, in order to deliver an audio message to the user, such as would be the case of parents wishing to contact their child who is also a driver. If DriveAssistT is employed by a passenger, they can choose to override the program and accept incoming calls, as well as place outbound calls without interruption.
There is, however, a major disadvantage in using the software. It only runs on devices that use Symbian OS or Windows Mobile, like Nokia and Sony Ericsson. There is no support for the OS X (used by the iPhone), or the Google Android OS yet.
Aegis is currently working a deal with a mobile carrier, and it plans to charge somewhere between $10 to $20 per month for its services.