02/07/2010
By: Shaun de Jager

Anti-Cell Phone Laws are popping up all around the world as governments attempt to make our roads safer by curbing cell phone usage while driving. Especially text messaging and emailing while driving. But not everyone seems to have the self control to kick the habit despite the potential punishments from law enforcement or worse causing personal injury or death either to themselves or someone else.

In the past couple years, several products or programs have been introduced on the market that either restrict the functionality of cell phones while in motion (preventing the phone from sending or receiving calls, emails or text messages) or adds features to the phone, such as speech recognition programs that read you your messages.

Some of new tools work rather well, whereas others don’t and of course prices can vary. All of them have limitations and only work on certain phones (Blackberrys, iPhones, various other SmartPhones, etc.).

Most of these tools are software based and need to be loaded into your phone. Many of the ones on the market require GPS as a working function of the phone or use cell tower triangulation to detect movement. While movement is detected, the software blocks incoming calls, texts and emails and also blocks the ability to send any (emergency calls are never restricted though). Other programs read incoming messages to you automatically without any input from the user (I rather liked this one but more on that later).

Some of the draw backs here is that in each case, a data plan is required on the phone. In the case where the program automatically replies for you with a simple “I’ll get back to you shortly” text message, a text messaging plan is highly recommended. The means of motion detection is also an issue. Programs that use cell tower triangulation are the least accurate because the signal varies even if you aren’t moving. Therefore, the program could restrict your phones functions while you are sitting in a coffee shop. GPS based programs are certainly more accurate in this regard. These motion based programs are programmed with a speed threshold so that your phone still works at walking speed but not all of them do. Something to research if you decide to use one of these systems. The other variable is cost. Some have working free versions but the fully functioning ones (that restrict your phone the most) have fees. Some only charge a one time fee to fully activate the software and others charge a monthly subscription fee, which can be rather expensive over a whole year.

The one that I took a liking too was DriveSafe.ly Pro. This application gets downloaded into your smartphone and reads your incoming messages. It doesn’t make any attempt to restrict your phones functions so it does take will-power to not reply to those messages. I tested this on my Blackberry Curve and found it to work quite well, although I never got the auto-reply feature to work properly. In this case, when a message is received the phone connects to the DriveSafe.ly servers and uses there advanced iSpeech software to read your messages to you while you drive. This happens automatically so no input is required while driving maintaining full hands-free functionality. Now your curiosity has been satisfied and you can decide to leave well enough alone or find a parking lot to stop in so that you can reply. Once again though, a data plan is required to connect to their servers. Those who receive sensitive and confidential information on their phones may not like this as an option for obvious reasons.

Additionally, if you are a person who receives a lot of messages, you may find this program annoying after a while when your phone keeps talking, talking, talking to you while you are driving. This could end up being a case where the cure is worse than the disease causing you further distractions. If you are one of those people…put your phone on silent mode and forget about it while driving. Everyone trying to reach you can wait for your safe return.

One of the other options to consider uses a combination of hardware in your car and software on your phone. In this case, CellControl.com comes to mind. This works directly with your vehicle to detect motion by plugging a specially designed module into the OBDII port of your car that is usually located under steering wheel (this port is only found on cars made in 1996 or newer). The module is then paired to your Bluetooth enabled smartphone with the CellControl software running. As soon as the vehicle moves, it restricts the pre-selected features of your phone. Selecting what you can and can’t do with your phone is decided via an online web-portal for registered users (yes this is a paid subscription based service) and those details are sent to the software in your phone. What’s nice about this system is the flexibility. You can program certain phone numbers that can bypass the lockdown while driving (like from your spouse or child’s school in the event of an emergency).

In the end though, these are just tools and it’s still the responsibility of the driver to drive safely. If you decide to check out these tools, do your research and pick one that suites your needs.

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