After a Rocket Scientist, Scott Tibbitts lost a friend in a texting and driving crash, Tibbitts found himself searching for a way to prevent another death from this growing epidemic.
Cellphones are involved in 1.6 million motor vehicle crashes every year that cause 500,000 injuries and kill 6,000, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Texting while driving has replaced drinking and driving as the leading cause of teen vehicular deaths, accounting for 20% of all teen traffic fatalities in the U.S. There have been many attempts to curb this deadly trend such as new apps, increased fines, and other initiatives. But none have completely halted it.
Tibbitts answer to ending the texting while driving epidemic is called Groove. Groove is a small device that plugs into a port located under the steering wheel and connects the car to the Internet. Once each driving is registered with Groove, within seconds of a beginning your drive, Grooves figures out who the driver is and notified the person’s phone carrier, allowing it to block distractions before they reach the phone. Once the car is turned off, Groove again notifies the carrier, and all blocked messages will roll in.
Groove does rely heavily on the partnerships with mobile carriers. Currently two mobile phone carriers have partnered with Groove for 2015 but Tibbitts says this isn’t enough. His goal is to have every single carrier on board with the program.
As a personal injury law firm, we see firsthand the devastations of texting while driving. That’s why we started our ‘Commit to Quit Texting and Driving’ program in 2011 with the goal of spreading the word about the dangers of texting while driving to high school students in the Capital District Region. Commit to quit texting while driving with us and learn more about our program.
Source: Yahoo