Sprint Goes After Distracted Drivers, Launches Drive First App

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Sprint, along with Location Labs has announced a new app — Sprint Drive First. This app is simple enough — it locks down the phone and sends calls to voicemail when the phone is in motion. In other words, it should force the user to keep their phone down and their eyes on the road.

Granted, a little self control should be all that it takes. But coming as a runner and triathlete who spends a rather large amount of time on the road and close to cars — this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I cannot tell you how many times I have almost been hit as some creeps though an intersection while only staring at their phone. But I digress, the Sprint Drive First app is first going to be available for Android smartphones and is expected to arrive in Q3 2011.

The one drawback to this app, Sprint is charging. Granted it is only $2 per month, but at the same time this could be a huge perk for parents from Sprint if it were to be a free add-on. But again, I digress. In terms of the features of the Sprint Drive First app, at the basic level, the app will detect when you are driving. In other words, it will detect when the phone is in motion.

Once the motion is detected, the features then include;

• Lock the driver’s cell phone screen and redirect calls to voice mail.
• Block text-message alerts and auto-respond to the message sender that the driver is currently unavailable.
• Allow access to three key contacts and three mobile applications, such as GPS navigation.

Furthermore, there will also be a web portal for parents that will allow them to configure and monitor the app.

And as you can see, the Drive First app seems aimed at parents for teen drivers, but seems to me that it can be used by anyone that has slightly less self-control when it comes to picking up a phone while driving. Just remember, aside from the rare emergency exception, there is nothing that you can do when or if that call or message comes in that you cannot do when you reach your destination.