Oh, calm down. I’m not saying you should be texting while driving. Do I even have to tell you how dangerous that is? It was bad enough when people would just talk on their mobile phones while driving. Then texting became a popular and preferred method of communication, especially among teens, and suddenly texting while driving is an all-too-common occurrence. But even worse are the accidents it has caused. In Colorado, a woman in an SUV was looking at her cell phone instead of the road. She hit and killed a nine-year-old girl riding her bike. A 20-year-old man in Oklahoma City was distracted while driving because he was talking on his cell phone. He ran a red light, slammed into another car, and killed its driver, a 61-year-old woman. In Augusta, GA, an 18-year-old girl lost control of her car while texting, and was killed the day after she graduated from high school. These are just a few examples. Unfortunately, stories like this aren’t enough incentive for some people to give up texting while driving. But now maybe they won’t have to because of a new smartphone application.
A company called AdelaVoice has created an app called StartTalking that allows users to send text messages simply by speaking. The app runs in the background while the phone is on. When you say certain prompts, the app becomes active, and will take your dictation to send a text. Right now, it recognizes two voice prompts—“computer” and “operator”—but future versions of the app will allow you to program custom prompts.
AdelaVoice is based in Massachusetts where texting while driving carries a fine of up to $500 as of September 30, 2010. Thirty states in the U.S. have banned texting while driving, and the federal government has made it illegal for commercial truck drivers to send text messages while their trucks are in motion. In addition, AT&T launched a campaign against texting while driving, and Oprah Winfrey has made it a personal mission to get the word out with her No Phone Zone program.
The StartTalking app seems to work, at least most of the time. If you’ve ever used any kind of voice prompt program for your cell phone, you know that it doesn’t always understand everything you say. Right now, it’s only available for Android phones, but the company plans to expand it to other platforms such as the iPhone and BlackBerry devices soon. Best of all, it’s free.
If the app helps to decrease the number of accidents resulting from cell phone distraction, it will be a great thing. But is any text message so important that you really need to send it while you’re driving? What do you think? Will applications like this help, or would it be better for drivers to just avoid texting altogether while their vehicles are in motion?
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Business people need to ‘hit the ball over the net’. Teens consider it rude not to reply immediately to texts. Home schedules would grind to a halt without immediate communication. We are conditioned to pursue this level of efficiency but we are all supposed cease this behavior once we sit in our respective 5,000 pound pieces of steel and glass. Anyone can win an argument in a forum like this by saying “Just put the phone away” – but we can see its just not happening.
I just read that 72% of teens text daily – many text more 3000 times a month. New college students no longer have email addresses! They use texting and Facebook – even with their professors. This text and drive issue is in its infancy and its not going away.
I decided to do something about it after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me by a texting driver . Speech to text software seemed like just another form of texting and driving – still fumbling with technology instead of driving. So I built a tool called OTTER that is a simple app for smartphones. I think if we can empower the individual to focus on driving then change will come to our highways now and not just our laws.
Erik Wood, owner
OTTER LLC
OTTER app
Footnote:
- http://www.prlog.org/10871927.html
@Erik I hadn’t heard of this app yet. Thanks so much for sharing the information with our readers!