Device Stops Cell Phone Use When Driving

A new device stops drivers using their cell phones to make or receive calls or texts when driving.

About 6% of drivers, many of them teens, still use their cell phones when driving, either to make or take calls or to send and receive text messages. But a new provisionally patented and licensed device developed by researchers at the University of Utah can put an end to that.

The Key2SafeDriving (K2SD) is a device that works with the car’s ignition key. As soon as the engine is started, the device sends out a signal blocking activity on the cell phone to which it’s attached. Anyone calling or texting the driver will receive a message saying "I am driving now. I will call you later when I arrive at the destination safely."

911 calls and those allowed by the device administrator – usually a parent – can still be made.

The device is not a jammer, which would be illegal, according to Xuesong Zhou, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and co-inventor of the K2SD.

The device has been licensed to Accendo LLC, which expects to have it on the market in six months at a cost of $50 per key plus a monthly service charge.