Mom creates driving app to “ground” teens’ phones

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

by Sharlyn Petit We hear the statistics on the dangers of distracted driving time and again. Like, 7 in 10 peopleperforming some sort of smartphone activity while driving. Or, in 58% of teen crashes, the driver being inattentive or engaged in a non-driving activity. That’s a lot of distracted driving. Concerned with her own daughters’ smartphone use, one mom created an app called ParentBlocked that disables texting (and social media apps) when driving more than 10 mph, while still allowing for emergency calls. ParentBlocked’s Safe Driving Mode is just one of the features included in the $1.99/month subscription for iOS and Android. The Scheduler function allows parents to shut down phone access during certain hours, the Grounded function gives parents the option to shut down a teen’s smartphone anytime, anywhere, and the Manage feature lets parents pre-approve all apps and downloads. It seems like parental-control apps are everywhere. Canary sends a report to parents when teens use a phone while driving or traveling into preset off-limit areas. Ignore No More gives parents the ability to shut down a smartphone completely. If your teen isn’t calling you back, a friendly “Call Mom” message displays for password retrieval. What do you think? Does this type of control go too far? Or is it a great tool for parents with new drivers in the family? Read more about ParentBlocked’s story here.