New Distracted Driving App "Tags" Texting Drivers
Life Apps adds free "Tag a Texter" app to tag and identify distracted drivers; National Map of Distraction will tally distracted driving locations
LOS ALTOS, CA / myprgenie.com / ACCESSWIRE / October 14, 2014 / In its mission to reduce distracted driving through technology, Life Apps has released its latest mobile app called Tag a Texter, available for Android and iPhone users.
The Tag a Texter app empowers each of us to get involved in fighting distracted driving by calling out drivers who are texting or using their cell phone behind the wheel. Pedestrians or passengers (but NOT drivers) can use the app to "tag" drivers caught in the act of distracted driving with the date, time and location (plus optional photo) of the incident. Each tag generates a Distracted Driving Pin on a National Map of Distraction, which tracks national, state and local distracted driving trends and identifies communities where distraction seems to be a higher-than-normal occurrence.
"The Tag a Texter app will help quantify the distracted driving problem and initiate a grass roots effort to increase the national dialogue around this serious problem," said Ted Chen, Co-Founder of Life Apps.
Life Apps has partnered with Impact Teen Drivers, the nation's leading voice on teen distracted driving education, to help spread the word about this app. Leading up to this year's National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 19-25, 2014), Life Apps has been offering gas rewards to new Tag a Texter users as part of the Create Real Impact contest that is being sponsored by Impact Teen Drivers.
"The Tag a Texter app is a creative approach to show the prevalence of texting while driving on our roads. It will take each of us doing our part to have a sustained shift to a driving culture that is distraction free," said Dr. Kelly Browning, Executive Director of Impact Teen Drivers.
The Tag a Texter app and the National Map of Distraction are the latest solutions introduced by Life Apps in its mission to solve distracted driving through technology. Leveraging its Silicon Valley experience, Life Apps has created mobile solutions that are both practical and effective in modifying this risky behavior. Its LifeSaver app (Android and iOS) changes distracted driving behavior through a variety of methods, including innovative uses of music and rewards as incentives for making the behavioral change.
"Despite laws in most states banning texting and driving, people continue to use their smart phones at the wheel," Chen said. "According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or electronic devices while driving. By focusing on behavioral change through incentives and accountability, the LifeSaver app has been very effective in reducing distracted driving."
Simple, inexpensive and hardware-free to maximize driver adoption, the LifeSaver app has been promoted by safety advocacy groups including the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey and the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association, the group representing driver ed teachers nationwide.
Driver distraction is now recognized as a leading factor in traffic crashes, with more than 3,000 deaths and over 400,000 injuries a year attributed to texting and cell phone use. It is especially prevalent among young drivers, with more than two-thirds of teens admitting they text or email while driving.
The Tag a Texter and LifeSaver apps are available for Android and iOS phones and can be downloaded for free from the LifeSaver website at http://www.lifesaver-app.com.
Life Apps LLC was founded by Ted Chen and Mike Demele, Silicon Valley veterans in the consumer Internet and enterprise software sectors with industry leaders such as AOL, Oracle, PeopleSoft and Yahoo!
For more information, visit www.lifesaver-app.com.
SOURCE: Life Apps LLC