Stop texting and driving, through empathy.

Everyday I commute to work or drive I notice the amount of drivers that still text and drive. Observing drivers next to me as I pass them by while they go below the speed limit to “stay safe,” or seeing the person in front looking down every two seconds from their side view mirror, It’s alarming.

Who or what so important to risk lives for over a text message? Boss? Significant other? Do you think their recipient would continue the conversation knowing they were on the road? Probably not.

Have you ever texted while driving with friends? did they tell you to stop? I hope they did, or you need new friends; just kidding, maybe…

Simple Implementation

If a sender is going at a speed faster than 10 miles per hour, the recipient would see a message displaying the speed below. (See image)

Privacy

Is it a privacy concern to allow recipients of messages to see you’re driving? I think not. Don’t want them to know? Then don’t text them!

With the new iOS driving feature that auto texts back, perhaps the speed doesn’t need to display since it was an auto generated text message.

Disable / Passenger?

If a passenger is texting, well…it will also show your speed, however it could be possible to implement a feature that only shows the speed once. Another option would be if a user types along the lines of “no I am not driving” it stops displaying speed.

Using the honor system and the thought that someone wouldn’t lie to a loved one about texting and driving, this feature would be quite effective to help stop people from texting while driving.

Empathy through others.

Imagine you’re texting your significant other, parents, or siblings, someone you care about. The speed is displayed so they ask if you’re driving — are you really going to lie to continue the conversation? I’d hope you stop, or your recipient stops responding.

It’s a very simple implementation that I feel through empathy of people that care about you, would cause offenders to stop. If it’s really important call them hands free!

What are your thoughts? Be sure to follow me as I do a larger case study on this idea that rewards drivers for not texting and driving!