A really smart smartphone app

Now this may sound a little contradictory but bear with me on this one… I wanted to let you know about a new smartphone app that can improve your driving. What I hear you say, you were just preaching about how you were phone free in the car the other day!

Well this app – SafeDrive - kind of helps you do that – it gives you actual rewards for ignoring your phone…

As soon as you reach over 6 miles an hour in your car, the app automatically locks your phone. As you then calmly drive about not checking your phone, you build up points. These points can be used in the SafeDrive Marketplace where you can get shopping discounts. It’s brilliantly simple and no surprises for guessing that if you crack and look at an incoming text, you’ll wipe out points.

But as well as this, the app monitors how safely you drive - you know that stuff that other people do like breaking hard, taking corners too sharply etc - so that you can compete with friends to see who’s the safest driver.

Nearly 100,000 people around the world are now using this app so it must be on to something.

It was created by a Romanian guy called Tudor Cobalas who nearly crashed his car because he was texting. This might be a good point for me to have a little preach – did you know that the World Health Organisation (WHO) says that people who use their phones in cars are four times more likely to be involved in a crash?!

So anyway, Tudor has also created an app for teenagers called Milez, through which relatives can financially reward the teenagers in their life for safe driving. I’m sure there’s a market there but you’d think they they’d be thankful enough to have a car to drive safety anyway.

But it got me thinking about what sort of driving app could be next - a virtual driving instructor sitting in the car next to you; a crying baby app to prepare expectant parents or perhaps an app that picks your movie sound track based on your driving – Thelma and Louise, Driving Miss Daisy, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off…

Seeing as I now don’t use my phone I’m going to sign up for this app. Doubt any of my friends are bold enough to compete with me on the driving safely front though.