Verizon Wireless has been a leader in this area for many years. The company was the first to support statewide hands-free driving laws across the country, and last year, launched the "don't text and drive" campaign.

Responsible solutions are at your fingertips * Parents can utilize Usage Controls with time of day restrictions so that they can turn off texting when they think their kids will be driving (i.e. to and from school). * Apps that use GPS/LBS to control/stop texting when the car goes over a certain speed are available either in App World (Zoom Safer, for example) or in the Android Market (textectution). Some of these also send an auto reply message if a text message comes in while the app is engaged. * Users can utilize text to voice or voice to text to avoid texting while driving. * Devices such as the H17txt with Motospeak TM work with multiple phones on Verizon Wireless network and can translate up to 150 acronyms like LOL, BTW, L8R, THX so users never miss the meaning of a text.

Responsible solutions are in the making * Verizon Wireless is working to create a “driver” mode (similar to airplane mode) that can be paired with existing apps like Usage Controls and Family Locator so that the phone will know when the user is driving, and can alert callers/texters that the driver is unavailable at the moment.

Verizon’s position is simple: drive responsibly * Verizon Wireless has been a leader in the call for responsible driving for since 2000. * The company was the first to support statewide hands-free driving laws across the country. * Last year, Verizon Wireless launched its “don’t text and drive” campaign. * Verizon Wireless requires that employees use hands-free devices if they choose to talk on their mobile phones while driving and forbids texting and e-mailing while driving. * Customers can get more information, and see the company's ads, from the "Drive Responsibly" link on vzw.com (http://aboutus.vzw.com/wirelessissues/driving.html).

With responsible driving gaining national and local focus, I thought this information may be of interest to you. We’d be honored if you share this with your viewers.