Local group working to stop texting and driving

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Oprah is on a mission to stop texting and driving. So far more than 142,000 people have taken her No Phone Zone pledge.

Now, a Kalamazoo group is trying to do the same. The Geek Group is hoping to create 'no phone zones' not only in cars, but other places as well.

The Geek Group says it's making a device that when you hit the road, can be programmed to shut off phones or certain functions on phones.

“This is fantastically dumb, it's one thing to use a cell phone while driving,” said Chris Borden of The Geek Group, “but texting, that's like reading a book while driving. You want to type on a tiny little keyboard, are you nuts?”

At The Geek Group, Boden loves experiments, even risky ones, but he strives to be safe, so he's not down with the experiment of texting while driving.

“It's a problem that's bad, but easy to fix and we're smart guys that like puzzles and we had this one hacked out,” said Boden, “and it's really easy, we got the idea by watching the series on Channel 3.”

Now, The Geek Group is working on a fix and wants to patent a device that will block any phone from working, simply by programming it.

“We can make it block all cell phone activity but still make it so you can use 911,” said Boden, “you can still call your parents, you can have a safe list.”

The device would make a small wi-fi zone in a car that would render phones useless. There are other applications to block phones in cars, like speed-based blocking where phones don't work at certain speeds, but Boden says his device would be more user friendly.

“Those things tend to be more of a brute force solution,” said Boden, “this is a much more elegant solution, just the way we've designed it, it's very adaptable.”

Boden says the device isn't just for cars, but could also be used in classrooms, theaters, practically anywhere and will work with any phone since the technology is already built in.

“There's a point in this when it comes down to common sense and common sense isn't so common,” said Boden. “We have the technology to fix it, we have the brainpower to fix it.”

The Geek Group says if you're driving down the road and pull up to a light the device wouldn't block another driver's phone since it's programmed only to the ones you want blocked. It would also put parents in control instead of making kids download an application that could later be deleted.

The Geek Group is currently looking to get a patent and funding for development.

There are other options available you can find out more about them at http://safedrivingsystems.com/ and http://www.textecution.com/.