As it stands

I'll start by admitting that I break my No Texting & Driving pledge on a daily basis. Whether we are discussing my official or personal pledge, undoubtedly, I find myself time and time again staring at a bright little screen while blazing down the highway.

It’s not something I do intentionally; I see the phone light up, I check it — automatic. My curiosity gets the better of me. And to be perfectly honest, my pledge does not even cross my mind. Sure, I know I can (and should) wait, but it will just take a second to send my reply. I can drive with one hand, I can multitask, right? No big deal. I’m sure many people can relate.

A pledge, while a nice and hopeful gesture, does not scratch the surface of solving the widespread problem of texting & driving.

A Solution?

To achieve a meaningful reduction in the number of people texting & driving, a solution with any hope of success must offer real, tangible, and — most importantly — desired incentives.

Wait, what if everyone just turns off their phone when they get into their car to drive? Or what about opening an app or “driving mode” setting every time you get behind the wheel that simply turns off all incoming alerts on your phone?

While these are great solutions, they are fundamentally flawed because they are based on unrealistic assumptions of behavior. Each would rely on you to remember and choose to start the app each and every time you are about to drive. Sound familiar? It is just like remembering your pledge but now adding additional effort that takes time. Not likely to happen.

The problem lies in getting people to actually use a solution. There must be an incentive or individuals will simply not take the extra step every time they get behind the wheel.

But what if you were rewarded? What if by taking the time to open an app before you start driving you earn real life rewards? Rewards that actually matter to you.

For example, pretend you are a 17 year old girl that has been using the — lets call it “PauseChat” app — for about a month. You are excited because during this drive home from school without texting & driving you will hit the 500 point PauseChat goal and earn a $15 gift card to your favorite shopping spot! This is perfect, now you can go get that shirt that caught your eye last time you were there.

This scenario is a win/win/win. It is a win for the user because she is incentivized with and receives a reward she truly desires, making it worth the effort to actually use the app. It is a win for her parents who can relax knowing their daughter isn't endangering her life by texting while driving. It is a win for the retailer because they are marketing directly to their desired customer knowing any rewards they offer will bring customers through their doors more often; Plus, they gain positive public image for supporting and participating in the effort to reduce texting & driving.

Importantly, by failing to start the app before each drive there would be a sense of loss by the user. This reinforcement, in theory, would lead to increased future use and less text messages sent from behind the wheel.

This example can be tailored to any demographic. You are a 45 year old male? Perfect. Your favorite local restaurant is a participating partner and offers equivalent rewards.

A note on functionality:

In the pursuit of privacy, only usage amount data should be stored, not GPS location data. We would not want to discourage the use of such an app by teenagers by granting a location tracking ability to their parents, for example. Remember the goal is to reduce the amount of texting & driving, not to keep tabs on whereabouts.

What if someone opens the app to gain reward points while they are just a passenger in a vehicle? Well, really, that is not a problem. The more rewards a user earns, driving or not, translates to greater target market exposure for brands. More rewards granted equals more feet walking through their retail outlets, a win for both parties.

Finally, users would still have access to phone calls, navigation, and music applications.

Why write about it instead of building it?

In short, limited third party developer access. We tried going down that road, but quickly came to realize that creating a viable application would be impossible with the systems access permissions in place today. Whether it be carrier side (AT&T, Verizon, etc…) for SMS messages or Operating System side (iOS & Android) for native app notifications, the access limitations are far too strict to create a third party application that can be effective enough at temporarily blocking incoming notifications.

I believe that if the these restrictions were lessened by the service providers then there would be an influx of this type of application and by extension, presumably, a decrease in the amount of casualties caused by texting & driving.

If you would like, consider calling on your service providers (listed below!) to lessen their restrictions and by doing so encourage the creation of this type of application. We can only hope that in the long run it will help save some lives.