Device Stops Texting While Driving

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jonathan Young is a real estate broker and now president of a company called Textecution.

"Studies reveal 60 percent of teen drivers are texting while driving," said Young.

Young said while driving down the road it hit him.

"It was like an epiphany," added Young.  He wanted to find a way to stop teen drivers from texting and driving.

"Knowing that my son was soon going to be driving I wanted to do something that would keep him safe and others on the road," he said. 

Young's concept was a mobile phone application, a device that can disable a cell phone while the vehicle was in use.

Young said he called on Elyk Innovation, a Jacksonville web design company to develop the software.

"It took us about two months," said Joe Lemire, CEO of Elyk Innovation.

Lemire, who's son is also of driving age, said his company jumped at the opportunity. Lemire said it's tied to the GPS functions.

"If the vehicle is moving faster than ten miles an hour, Textecution disables the texting function," says Lemire.  

When the vehicle stops, the function resumes. Lemire said if the teenager is a passenger in the car or on a bus, the phone has a feature that requires him to contact his parents for permission.

"The parents can allow or disallow, if it is allowed, the person can text four hours," says Lemire.  

Textecution sells for $1.99 and can be used on cellphones with the Android Platform, such as Google, Mortrola, and Samsung.

The company would like to see Textecution on every teenager cell phone in three years. 

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