Insurance Machine

Insurers' Looking for Support offer Car Key Innovation That Acts to Jam Teen Driver Cell Phones

December 12, 2008
An automobile ignition key designed to prevent teenagers from talking on cell phones while driving, or sending text messages, has been developed by University of Utah researchers.

It is the inventors' hope that the insurance industry will support this innovative safety technology and see it as being worthy of premium discounts for those that employ it.

At this point, the university has managed to obtain temporary patents and has taken the opportunity to license the invention to a private company as Key2SafeDriving, and hopes to see it on the market within six months to be sold for less than $50 per key along with to be determined monthly service fee.

Assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering Xuesong Zhou, who co-invented the system with former graduate student Wally Curry, while Curry was at the University of Utah, says that one of the main keys to safe driving is to avoid any distractions. Zhou says that the key device is a step in the direction of being able to provide a simple, cost-effective solution to improve driving safety.

Zhou estimates that at any particular time about 6 percent of those on the road are talking on a cell phone while driving. The figure for teenagers at any given time, who are talking or texting on a cell phone, is 10 percent. Current studies indicate that drivers using cell phones while driving, are about four times more likely to get in a crash than those who don't.

Zhou points out that parents want to improve driving safety for their teenagers. At the same time he adds, they also want to reduce their insurance costs for their teen drivers. He says that his new system can prove that teen drivers are not talking while driving, and that this will significantly reduce the risk of having a car accident.

Managing partner of Accendo LC, Ronn Hartman says that it is planned to not sell Key2SafeDriving system directly to consumers by a manufacturer, but rather to license the technology to cell phone service providers to be included in their service plans. The company which is located in Kaysville, Utah, provides early stage business consulting as well as seed funding. Accendo LC has licensed the Key2SafeDriving technology from the University of Utah and is also involved in its commercialization and manufacture.

It is Hartman's hope to achieve automobile and insurance industry backing so that data on Key2SafeDriving cell phone usage while driving may be compiled into what he terms a safety score which would be sent monthly to insurance companies, who in turn would provide discounts to motorists with good scores. Included also might be data recorded via Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites indicating incidence of the driver's speeding, fast braking or running of traffic lights, calculations of which are made by comparing the driver's position with a database that includes maps, speed limits, stop lights etc.