State Farm App to Prevent Distracted Driving

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State Farm Insurance is releasing a mobile tool that would solve the problem of distracted driving due to text messaging on one’s cellphone. This new application, called the new “On the Move” widget, would be made available today (August 23rd) available and free for all Android smartphone users.

This new widget, which was the first automated text-response application offered free by an insurance company allows drivers and motorists to compose customized messages and preload them so they could be used as automated responses that their handhelds would get while they are driving. So instead of the driver having to manually read and respond to the text message they receive, this application would respond to the message for them.

According to the Vice President of Strategic Resources of State Farm Insurance, Laurelle Stiles, it is the hope of the company that their latest ‘On the Move” widget would prevent car crashes caused by distracted driving and thus save lives. State Farm Insurance recognizes the problem of accidents caused by text messaging while driving which, according to statistics, reach an approximately 200, 000 accidents per year. Stiles also added that this new application would help drivers to resist reading or responding to text messages that they receive while driving behind the wheel and they have made this service free to their clients to keep the country’s roadways safe.

The “On the Move” service would enable Android smartphone users to make their own text message responses and save them in a folder in their handhelds for future use. The application could work for any incoming text or with a few select senders indicated in the user’s address book of their handheld. Other than driving, android smartphone users could also use the service in other events such as class, a meeting, or a movie.

To use the application, users simply have to turn on the widget and its auto-response function. Then, they have to compose or selecting one of the auto-response messages included in the application. The text messages that they have received while the application answered them could still be viewed in their inboxes.

The “On the Move” application is compatible with the Android Smartphone’s OS 1.5. Unfortunately, the widget is not yet available for Windows Mobile Phone, Blackberry, or iPhone users. But State Farm Insurance is currently evaluating their options of the application being available to the brands of handheld cellular phones.