I came across this powerful documentary produced by AT&T Mobile. It’s very well done and clearly communicates the belief that you should not Text and Drive. While I applaud AT&T for producing and communicating this POV via YouTube — a noble action by itself — it does beg the question, what are you DOING (vs. saying) to stop this madness? Where’s the action to back up this powerful communication?

Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to ask the question without offering a suggestion, so here goes. Most mobile phones are GPS enabled this day, so you can track their location, and more importantly, speed of travel. How about installing a piece of software that makes it impossible to text, email or dial a phone number when your phone is traveling faster than 15 MPH? It reminds me of that playful programme Virgin Mobile ran in Australia — ‘Stop DUI: Dialing Under the Influence’:

Surely if Virgin Mobile can figure out how to block you from dialing or texting after midnight, your programmers should be able to figure out how to render your mobile device inoperable if it’s traveling at an unsafe speed.

So, then, which mobile phone company will be the first to offer this feature? AT&T – do you have the will to back up your beliefs and communication with ACTION? As a parent of a soon-to-be teenage driver and one who pays for my kids texting privileges, I’ll be the first to say that whoever does offer this kind of service will most certainly earn my loyalty.

2 Responses to “Don’t Text and Drive”

1. Stuart Mills says: February 9, 2011 at 10:48 am

   So I can’t text or talk on my phone whilst I’m on the train or in a taxi?

2. Chad says: February 11, 2011 at 12:42 pm

   good point. Any ideas how to improve on that? Maybe an app instead of service that once installed can cross reference location with speed…so it can tell difference between roads and train tracks. And if you’re in a taxi or a passenger in a car, you have to click through a warning window saying you’re traveling too fast to text…