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Talking App Addresses Texting While Driving Problem

DENVER (CBS4) - There's an application for almost everything these days, but few try to discourage people from checking their cellphones.

DriveSafe.ly reads emails, tweets and text messages out loud to drivers, so they don't have to take their eyes off the road. However, experts and developers disagree about whether hands-free devices significantly reduce driver distraction.

According to its website, DriveSafe.ly has read about 600 million messages, possibly preventing just as many accidents. The app doesn't eliminate all the dangers of texting while driving, but it's a safer option in a world where people are unlikely to cut off all cellphone use in the car, said Yaron Oren, iSpeech chief marketing officer.

ISpeech provides the text-to-speech technology that powers DriveSafe.ly.

"There's three types of distraction," Oren said. "There's taking your eyes off the road, there's taking your hands off the wheel and then there's the mental, cognitive distraction. We're not solving that last category. We are solving the first two."

But researchers are doubtful that apps like DriveSafe.ly solve anything. Using a cellphone while driving, "whether it's hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit," according to a University of Utah study. That's because "the conversation itself — not just manipulation of a handheld phone — distracts drivers from road conditions," according to the study.

"Your girlfriend is leaving you, or — you know — your son has to be picked up at school right away — that's engaging," said Kevin Hobbs, AAA Colorado vice president of marketing and communications. "There, you start listening and not paying attention to the road. And that's when accidents happen."

Reading text messages in the car is a necessity for RE/MAX real estate agent Michael Welk because many of the 500 messages he receives each month come from clients.

"We have to be quite reactive to those, or they're going to go to someone else," he said. "And that's money out of my pocket."

CBS4 had Welk test DriveSafe.ly for a week. He said he found the app handy and will continue using it on his Android. But Welk said the electronic voice was sometimes inaudible and startled him when it read text messages and emails he wasn't expecting. Additionally, remembering to turn on DriveSafe.ly was difficult, Welk said.

"I think the best bet is to put the phone on silent and put it inside my console or put it away completely," he said. "Out of sight, out of mind."

Other app developers have taken a similar stance. TXtBlocker sends calls to voice mail and keeps text messages and emails on hold until drivers leave areas they've designated as "no-cell zones." The shutdown also goes into effect if the app detects through a phone's GPS chip that the phone is moving at a driving speed, according to the tXtBlocker website.

Cellcontrol also limits messaging based on velocity, but it does so based on the speed of the vehicle, not the phone. The service comes with a device that plugs directly into the vehicle and detects its motion, according to the Cellcontrol website.

But DriveSafe.ly remains the most popular Android app with at least 1,000 times as many downloads as Cellcontrol and at least 500 times as many downloads as tXtBlocker, according to Android Market. However, this could be because DriveSafe.ly has a free version while the other two require paid subscriptions.

DriveSafe.ly is also available on the BlackBerry and iPhone, but Apple software blocks the app from reading iPhone text messages out loud.

Aaron Lebovic, a Your Castle Real Estate broker with an iPhone, tested the app for CBS4. He said that although the lack of compatibility disappointed him, the concept was intriguing.

"I think real estate professionals and anybody that spends a lot of time in the car could really use an application like this," Lebovic said.

-- Written for the Web by Andrew Gibson

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