Eradicating Texting and Driving: The Partnership between MMGuardian and TextKills.org
By Paul Grossinger
It is no secret anymore: texting and driving is a killer. In fact, it is the Number 1 killer of teens nationwide, due to its status as the leading cause of distracted driving deaths.
More than 3,000 teens died last year from texting and driving accidents.
New laws, including legislation passed in New York State this June, will help but laws alone do not deter teens. Communication and enforcement are critical to save lives.
TextKills.org is devoted to fostering that critical communication. The organization’s mission is to communicate the true cost of texting while driving through the stories of victims: not just perpetrators who were harmed by their own actions but the harmless innocents as well: those in the passenger seat or the struck vehicle.
Communicating the consequences to teens, even more so than laws on paper, will play a critical role in eradicating this issue. Likewise, enforcement by guardians will be necessary as well – not just setting up rules but making sure they are carried out.
MMGuardian, the software I helped design, creates a direct technological mechanism for that enforcement: text and drive blocking that is built right into an application that goes right on a teens’ phone. The app detects if the phone is in a moving vehicle and automatically shuts off the texting function – except to emergency services. MMGuardian is uninstall and tamper proof and can be turned on/off remotely, which means guardians have 24/7 active control over their teens’ ability to use their phones in any way, including texting, while behind the wheel.
With that trifecta: laws, communication, and technological enforcement, we can eradicate texting while driving.