Texting & driving kills two more teens; Seattle-based inventors propose solution

SEATTLE - It’s happened again, texting and driving has likely contributed to the deaths of two more teens. A Seattle-based organization is proposing a solution to not only a national, but an international problem.

Sheriff’s deputies say the teen was texting while driving when his car went off the road near Twin Falls last weekend, killing him and another teen.

The crash near U.S. Highway 30 killed Coeur d’Alene teens Devon Austin, 19, and Ryan Reinhardt, 18, early Sunday morning. Both graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 2010.

A third Coeur d’Alene resident, 19-year-old Jessica Duran, suffered minor injuries in the crash.. She was treated and released from St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center.

Deputies said the three may have been involved in a fight at a party that night, and were chased by another vehicle after leaving the party. The driver was said to have been texting a friend, saying they were being chased by another vehicle.

Reinhardt was driving the 1998 Toyota Camry.

Proposed solution

Local inventors are advocating for new laws that would implement universal technology to limit display intensive uses of phones while driving, particularly texting and web surfing, without limiting uses by passengers.

Jeff Haley, co-founder of the Distracted Driving Foundation (DDF) told Examiner.com, “The technology to reduce electronic displays is already in newer cars. When a person is stopped, the display – GPS, Internet, etc. – provides detailed and complex information. But when a person is driving the display is reduced to basic information that can be comprehended in just one quick glance.”

“Why not have something similar in all cell phones. It’s possible,” Haley said.

The idea would be to require phones in view of the driver to automatically disable texting and web surfing when the car is moving.

“The cost of adding the technology to new phones is less than a dollar per phone.  The cost of adding the technology into the network is estimated to be about 10 cents per month per phone bill. The telephone companies that have heard about it like the idea, but they can’t afford to do it unless a law is passed requiring their competitors to do it too,” Haley said.

In a nutshell, what DDF is proposing is technology that would block texting and web surfing and present only simple displays when moving faster than 15 mph. There would be no effect on voice calls while driving unless the phone owner wants restrictions.

Haley said, “Incoming callers would receive a message letting them know the person they’re calling is driving, and they would then make the decision if the call is worth distracting the driver.”

“It doesn’t make sense to have police looking into everyone’s windows to see if they’re using their phones inappropriately. It makes more sense to have a technological solution to this problem,” Haley said.

Examiner.com will provide more information on the proposed technology, so check back often.

The Distracted Driving Foundation is “coordinating a technical solution to the distracted driving problem.” To learn more about this important proposed solution visit www.ddfn.org.