In 2008, nearly 6000 people lost their lives to texting while driving. More than 500,000 car accidents involved a distracted driver and a cell phone.
In 2009, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released the results of an 18 month study that involved placing cameras inside the cabs of more than 100 long haul trucks, which recorded the
activities of drivers over a combined driving distance of three million miles. The study concluded that when the drivers were texting, their risk of crashing was 23 times greater than when not texting. (source: The New York Times, July 27,2009)
……“I’m driving right now, I’ll call or text you back as soon as I come
to a safe stop”….
.
There is no proof, by way of statistics, that any public organized effort to curb texting while driving has reduced the death rate in the United States. Iconosys, Inc has chosen to join the effort and create and distribute affordable, socially conscious, socially responsible applications for mobile phone users to assist them and in the anxieties about responding timely to text messages and phone calls while driving.
SMS Replier allows the user to comfortably focus on operating their vehicle and know that any callers or text messages that are inbound, will not go unanswered. Instead, their inbound contact has been answered with a responsible message that the recipient is driving and will contact them in the near future. SMS Replier, by utilizing the phones onboard GPS systems, is able to identify if the phone is traveling at a speed greater than 15 miles per hour. If the user is driving, a message is sent. If the user is not traveling, the message is not sent. If the mobile phone is in the possession of a passenger in another’s vehicle or in public transportation, the passenger can disable the Auto Reply system.
Additionally, we have included a set of pre-programmed messages that can be activated weather the user is traveling or not. The convenience messages may be found to be very useful when a user is in a situation where they are unable to respond to inbound calls or text. Eg. Excercising, attending class, in a place at work that does not allow a phone, or their phone might be left somewhere to charge, out of their earshot.
The convenience messages are very useful and allow the user to live anxious free that their loved ones and friends do not feel like they are being intentionally avoided or ignored.
