State of Iowa Department of Transportation Taps
Aegis Mobility to Develop Free Mobile App
Designed to Keep Teens from Texting While Driving
VANCOUVER, Canada (Nov. 14, 2013) – Aegis Mobility, the global leader in solutions to prevent distracted driving, announced today that it has been awarded a contract from the Iowa Department of Transportation to provide a mobile application, TEXTL8R, to reduce distracted driving fatalities and accidents. Once developed, Iowa will be the first state to offer text blocking technology for free to teenage drivers.
The Iowa DOT is the first state transportation agency that has worked to combat distracted driving through the creation of a mobile application. According to the National Safety Council, mobile device use is a contributing factor in an estimated 23 percent of all motor vehicle crashes. To reduce these preventable accidents and as part of an initiative to meet the state’s goal of zero fatalities on Iowa’s roadways, the Iowa DOT will provide the TEXTL8R application free-of-charge to young drivers, ages 14-17, in the state.
"Distracted driving has become a serious issue on our roadways. The TEXTL8R app is a way to help reduce distractions for drivers and to create conversations between parents and our young drivers who are most at risk.” said Mark Lowe, director, Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Division. “We chose Aegis Mobility as our partner based upon a combination of cost and their ability to meet our requirements including desired app features and a quick production schedule.”
The TEXTL8R application, which will disable text and phone capabilities when driving (except for emergency calls), is scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2014. Other planned features include:
- The ability to monitor and receive reports on driver behavior, including drive time, speeding, fast acceleration and hard braking
- A secure parent portal providing reports on driving behaviors, including route-specific events displayed on maps
- Notifications sent to parents via email for exceeding configurable thresholds
“Aegis is very pleased to be working in partnership with the Iowa DOT to help reduce distracted driving, and we admire their forward-thinking on such an important issue.” said Paul Zimmerman, CEO of Aegis Mobility. “Leaning on the unparalleled strengths of our market-leading FleetSafer software, we will be able to build an application that we hope will save lives in Iowa, and eventually, across the United States.”
The core features of TEXTL8R will also be available under the Aegis brand TeenSafer or various partners’ brands in 2014.
The results of the Iowa DOT bid process can be found here. Contact Aegis today to learn more about TeenSafer for families or to schedule a demonstration.
About Aegis Mobility
Aegis Mobility is the world’s leading provider of patented software for mobile devices to prevent distracted driving. FleetSafer enables employers to proactively promote safe and legal use of mobile devices while employees are driving on the job while TeenSafer enables parents to ensure that their young drivers are not distracted by texting, tweeting or talking while driving.
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