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SALT LAKE CITY -- The idea for the Key2SafeDriving device came to a University of Utah professor by accident. Well, near accident.
Safe Driving Systems CEO Mike Fahnert says, "The original inventor was literally driving down the road and had a young teenager kind of swerve in front of him."
The teen was using a cell phone. Fahnert says the device sends a Bluetooth signal to your phone while you're driving, putting the phone in safe driving mode.
"By default it restricts access to talking, texting and e-mail [on your phone]," Fahnert explains.
If you absolutely have to receive some phone calls while you're driving, Fahnert says you can program some numbers that you would still be able to access.
"If you're part of a corporation that requires you to use a Bluetooth headset while you're driving to do your job, then you could actually allow a Bluetooth headset [to operate] but still not allow a hand held call or texting, " Fahnert says.
He says you can always call 911 when needed. The device works on the Symbian, Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
