The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
The excerpt below is from the 8/26/09 BOTW archives:
Don’t Anybody Move
The Wall Street Journal reports that software makers are trying technical fixes to the problem of texting while driving:
Many of the apps will simply block texts from being sent or received while the owner is driving. They generally require a smart phone with Global Positioning System technology.
Safe Driving Systems Corp. is building a system that takes over a cellphone’s display when its owner starts driving. Calls and text messages are received but can’t be accessed, though users can place emergency calls. The system includes an electronic “key” that is installed in the car and emits a Bluetooth signal that disables the keypad while the car is running. . . .
Another start-up, Vancouver-based Aegis Mobility Inc., is developing DriveAssist, a software program that uses a phone’s GPS to detect when it is moving at driving speed and intercept incoming calls and texts. It also blocks outgoing messages, though the owner can override it to make emergency calls.
Great idea! Well, except that unless the software can tell who’s driving, it will also prevent passengers from texting while riding in a car, bus, taxi, train or any other conveyance that moves at “driving speed.”
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.
