Is Your Teen A Good Driver? There's an App for That

A new iPhone application called "Safe Driver" allows parents to be in the passenger seat of their teen's vehicle without ever stepping foot in the car.

Wednesday, May 26th 2010, 1:10 pm

By: News 9


By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A new iPhone application called "Safe Driver" allows parents to be in the passenger seat of their teen's vehicle without ever stepping foot in the car.

The Safe Driver app will alert parents right on their iPhone when their teen driver is driving too fast, accelerates suddenly, breaks too hard or turns too fast.

Chester T. Karella, the app developer with Dangerous Decisions LLC. said he's "committed to reducing the number of vehicle fatalities as a result of unsafe driving behaviors."

For the $25 pro version the Web site states parents can get text alerts and emails notifications regarding their teens driving receiving "real time" feedback when the trip starts/ends, and when any limits are exceeded. To make it easier for parents, the site says the app will plot on Google maps all the places the driver made the violations and the driver can also be emailed for record purposes.

Parents like Kaye Hughes finds the app a plus for her teen driver. 

"My son would probably think it's going to far but I think it's a good way to keep up with him to know exactly what he's doing and how he's driving," Hughes said.

Although parents said they see the app as a great asset, teens may not feel the same way.

"I think it's a little over protective," said 16-year-old Jay Puckett.

However, Karella said the app wasn't designed as a way for parents to keep an eye on their kids 24/7, instead it's a way to lower the high number of fatalities attributable to young adults.

Karella said he also hopes to one day make the app available through insurance companies in hopes of lowering premiums. 

"Lets take it a little bit farther, if they [insurance companies] can document ex number of hours, so we can get an additional discount on our teen driving premiums, then hopefully it's a win, win for the teen driver and the parent," Karella said.

The app comes at a time when the CDC ranks motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. According to the CDC, in 2008 nine teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.

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