Car accidents happen every day. Learning defensive driving skills is important. They could help you avoid accidents and potentially save your life. Unfortunately, cell phones cause many accidents. In fact, it’s the number one form of distracted driving. Now, how can we reduce our cell phone distraction? This may sound strange, but the answer may be with smartphone apps. Some apps are designed to reduce the temptation to answer your phone. Here are a few apps that can help us stay safer while traveling along our Kentucky roads and avoid serious car accidents:
- WiseDrive – This app automatically detects when you are moving at high speeds, disables audio text messaging notifications and replies to inform your contact that you are not available.
- Drive Safe.ly – With this app, texts and emails are read aloud. The app automatically responds without touching a button.
- Dangers of Distracted Driving – This explores the consequences of distracted driving and educates the user of these dangers.
- Steer Clear Mobile – This teaches proper driving procedures and increases your ability to receive State Farm Insurance discounts, if applicable.
- Izup “Eyes Up” – This app holds incoming and outgoing communication while driving.
- SafeCell – It tracks a user’s position and alerts them of local no-text and no-cell rules.
- iGuardianTeen – With this app, parents may view and help coach teen driving by delivering a “Driving Report” to an email.
- TextNoMore – This app rewards users for avoiding texting and driving.
- ZoomSafer (and its variations: TeenSafer and FleetSafer) – It uses GPS to detect when the vehicle is moving and blocks calls and text messages.
- Sprint Drive First – This app automatically holds texts and calls while driving.
- OTTER (One Touch Text Response) – This allows you to create prerecorded responses to text messages from your contact list.
Related: Prevent Distracted Driving Among Teen Drivers With Apps
The creators of these apps are making serious efforts to improve the safety of today’s roadways. These apps make a big difference in reducing distracted driving. Can we rely solely on these apps? The answer is no. We need to be disciplined enough to not use our phone while driving. These apps can help us accomplish that. However, we need to remember to not get so caught up in these apps that we aren’t focused on the road and our surroundings. Even if you use these apps, it may still be a good idea to put your phone in a place where it won’t distract you. That way, you won’t be tempted to check it.