{"id":24254,"date":"2013-01-15T10:42:32","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T10:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/?p=24254"},"modified":"2020-09-22T20:14:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T20:14:18","slug":"how-to-break-the-texting-while-driving-habit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/blog\/how-to-break-the-texting-habit\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Break the Texting While Driving Habit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Did you hear the one about the guy who wrote a text that he needed to stop texting, right before he drove his\u00a0<\/span>car off a cliff? Really \u2013 it\u2019s not a joke. That actually happened to Texas college student Chance Bothe earlier this year. And while he survived his accident, he suffered severe injuries, brain trauma, and was in the hospital for 6 months.<\/p>\n

The National Safety Council estimated that a minimum of 160,000 crashes in 2010 involved texting while driving. The risk of danger is incredibly high when you take your attention off the road. According to Distraction.gov<\/a>, \u201cText messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the U.S. 39 states, plus Guam, Washington D.C., and the Virgin Islands, all ban text while driving, according to the\u00a0<\/span>Governor\u2019s Highway Safety Association<\/a>. And the National Safety Council has stated that approximately 100,000 crashes a year involve drivers who are texting.<\/p>\n

Think of texting and driving just like any other addiction to a deadly substance. If you don\u2019t quit now, you could be putting your life, or lives of others, at risk. It\u2019s time to break the habit.<\/p>\n

1. Turn it off.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>The easiest way to break the habit is to turn off your phone while driving. Why not? Unless there\u2019s an emergency, do you really need to take that call, respond to that text, or check your email while driving? We\u2019re pretty sure you know the answer, but just in case\u2013it\u2019s NO.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not that brave, you can always silence your phone. You won\u2019t get distracted by the alerts when you get a call or text but you\u2019ll still have access to your phone in case you need to make an emergency call.<\/p>\n

2. Try an app.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>There are a lot options out there to help keep your hands off your phone while still receiving (and sometimes sending) important information.<\/p>\n

DriveMode (Free):<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Available for AT&T subscribers using a BlackBerry or Android smartphone,\u00a0<\/span>the application\u00a0<\/span>will automatically silence the notification sounds of incoming texts, emails, and phone calls. It will also send a customizable automatic reply if you\u2019re moving 25 MPH or faster, so you can let senders and callers know you\u2019re driving and will respond when it\u2019s safe.<\/p>\n

While it does limit your driving usage, DriveMode still allows you to receive and make calls to a list of up to 5 people if it\u2019s essential that you hear from them. However, texts are off limits.<\/p>\n

Siri (Free with iPhone 4S or 5):<\/strong>\u00a0Think of\u00a0<\/span>Siri\u00a0<\/span>as your personal assistant. The app has the ability to read texts to you, and you can dictate a reply for her to send on your behalf. A decent option for iPhone users, it still requires some effort and attention on your part. Siri can also find locations and give directions, helping you stay even more focused on the task at hand. Android users have a similar option with\u00a0<\/span>Google Voice Actions.<\/p>\n

Drive Alive (Free):<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Get rewarded for good driving habits! With this new app, you\u2019ll log in before you start your trip and get points for not using your phone. Drive Alive will track your trip using GPS to ensure you\u2019re actually driving (and not just taking a stroll), and will monitor your phone use during your drive. It will then send the results of your trip back to the Drive Alive database, and ultimately you\u2019ll receive cash rewards for keeping your hands off your phone!\u00a0<\/p>\n

tXtBlocker<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>($6.99 monthly per user):<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Ideal if you\u2019re a commuter or drive a kids\u2019 carpool, you can set up your own limitations by entering times and locations when and where you won\u2019t receive texts and phone calls. Don\u2019t worry, you will still have the ability to dial 911 or a pre-set list of numbers, in case of an emergency.<\/p>\n

3. Hand your phone over.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Don\u2019t want to turn it off, and don\u2019t trust yourself to use an app? Hand your phone over to a passenger. Even if it\u2019s your child, you\u2019ll set a good example by putting your phone out of reach so you won\u2019t even be tempted to touch it. Plus, if something important comes through, they can respond for you!<\/p>\n

Breaking any bad habit can be hard. But texting while driving isn\u2019t worth the risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you hear the one about the guy who wrote a text that he needed to stop texting, right before he drove his\u00a0car off a cliff? Really \u2013 it\u2019s not a joke. That actually happened to Texas college student Chance Bothe earlier this year. And while he survived his accident, he suffered severe injuries, brain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24254"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38318,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24254\/revisions\/38318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/34329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idrivesafely.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}