[Infowarrior] - Car key blocks mobile phone use while driving

[Richard Forno]

Forget trusting your kids, letting them be responsible for their  
actions, and (gasp!) good parenting.  In tech we trust to make their  
conduct 'acceptable.'   I can think of several scenarios where this  
'tool' stumbles -- not the least is to switch phones with someone else  
in the car so the driver is using the phone not registered with the  
system.....and how does the 'system' know what is and is not an  
'emergency' situation to allow the phone to be used?      ---rf


Car key blocks mobile phone use while driving  	
Dec 12 07:46 PM US/Eastern

New Device Prevents Teens From Texting While Driving

		A pair of US inventors are bringing to market a computerized car key  
that prevents people from chatting on mobile telephones or sending  
text messages while driving.

Key2SafeDriving adds to a trend of using technology to thwart  
speeding, drunken driving, and other risky behavior proven to ramp-up  
the odds of crashing.

Once slipped into a car's ignition, the key created by US university  
researcher Xuesong Zhou and Dr. Wallace Curry sends a wireless signal  
to a driver's mobile phone blocking calls or texting.

"If you're in driving mode, you can't talk or text -- period," a  
character tells a friend trying in vain to send a text message while  
driving a car in a YouTube video demonstrating how the keys work.

The keys are being pitched as a way for parents to stop teenage  
children from focusing attention on beloved mobile telephones instead  
of traffic.

A growing number US states are enacting laws against teenagers using  
mobile telephones while driving.

Traffic statistics support arguments that mobile telephones are on par  
with alcohol use when it comes to hurting judgment and reaction times  
of drivers.

In October, Ford Motor Co. unveiled a "MyKey" device which allows  
parents to control how fast their teenagers drive, limits the volume  
on the car radio and makes sure their seat belts are fastened.

Ford said that it will be a standard feature starting next year on the  
2010 Ford Focus and other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

Global Positioning System devices have been on the market for some  
time which allow parents to monitor the every move of their teenage  
driver.

Technology used to thwart drunken driving includes preventing car  
engines from starting until aspiring motorists have passed dashboard  
breath-alcohol tests or reaction-time tests on mobile phones.


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