TMCnet News

Are You Compulsive About Texting & Driving? AT&T DriveMode® App, Now Available for iPhone, Helps Fight the Temptation
[November 05, 2014]

Are You Compulsive About Texting & Driving? AT&T DriveMode® App, Now Available for iPhone, Helps Fight the Temptation


(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) If the ring, beep or buzz of your cell phone triggers an intense urge to respond, and you find yourself reaching for the phone -- even when you're driving -- you're not alone.

A new survey commissioned by AT&T and Dr. David Greenfield, founder of The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Connecticut School of Medicine, found that twice as many people as self-reported cell phone addiction are showing compulsive phone behaviors -- with three-in-four people admitting to at least glancing at their phones while behind the wheel.



The study, fielded as part of the Texting & Driving ... It Can Wait    campaign, was released as AT&T focuses on helping people find ways to resist the urge to text and drive at a potentially deadly moment of temptation.

The AT&T DriveMode app for iPhone is now available on the App Store -- making it the first free no-texting-while-driving application offered by a major U.S. wireless carrier that works on the iPhone. DriveMode is the brainchild of an AT&T call center operator (Shavonne Nelson) who was personally affected by texting-while-driving. The app is easy to use. It silences incoming text message alerts, turns on automatically when one drives 15 MPH or more and turns off shortly after one stops. When activated, it automatically responds to incoming SMS and MMS text messages so the sender knows the text recipient is driving. It also allows parents with young drivers to receive a text message if the app is turned off.


The It Can Wait campaign is working with celebrities to help drive adoption of a new social shorthand, "#X." You can use it in social media, text or email to signal to others that you're pausing the conversation before you drive, and that you'll get back to them when you arrive safely at your destination.

.

(c) 2014 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]