Cranberry Twp., PA: February brought the great news that five students from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic won the Verizon Innovative App Challenge. Their initial app concept was to notify a parent when a child or teen in a car was driving at unsafe speeds. After winning Best in Nation, Chris Virosteck, Veronica Muth, Luc Madonna, Matt Esser, and Giovanna Esposito, began further research and concluded that the original concept would have been a cognitive distraction to the driver. For example, drivers might constantly anticipate the notification telling them to slow down, as well as the text that would be sent to their parent. This might not only take their mind off of driving, but could also tempt the driver to use their phone, which is another distraction.
The effects of distracted driving can be just as devastating as speeding. Statistics from a 2013 CDC report claim that 3,154 people were killed in the United States due distracted driving. An additional 420,000 others were placed injured. People of all ages are prone to distracted driving. These distractions can be visual (taking your eyes off the road), manual (taking your hand off the wheel), and cognitive (taking your mind off of driving).
The Safe Speed App recommends that all teen drivers turn off their phones while driving.
The SafeSpeed App is available for teen passengers. It activates your child’s ability to speak up in a car when they are a passenger, particularly a passenger who does not feel safe. It gives them some control. This app is primarily designed for the passenger, who often faces the challenge of speaking up for themselves in an unsafe driving environment. It allows them to judge if the person driving is traveling too fast and gives them a speedometer to check. There is a button on the app which speaks a non-distracting warning sound to the driver. It is easier as a passenger to speak up in this way than in the direct traditional way. As a parent, it gives you videos which help you explain to your child how to speak up in certain situations. There are two videos where you can teach your child how to use the app as a driver and as a passenger.
The app idea was inspired by the tragic local news report of three area teens who were in an accident involving excessive speeding. The driver, a high school senior, was killed and his two passengers were hospitalized. The question the team asked was whether there was a type of application that would prevent future tragedies.
The app currently provides parent support to inspire safe driving. The team hopes that their app will add to the conversation about saving teen lives and become the cornerstone for the type of technology that can be incorporated into future cars and phone applications. They hope that future technology provides a way to incorporate all of the positive elements of their original app idea.
The app was made possible with the awesome guidance of MIT App Inventor mentor Pauline Lake, local electrical engineer Seth Peasley, and coach Ellen Cavanaugh from Grow a Generation. The app is now uploaded as in the Google Play Store.
https://play.google.com/store/
The team travels to Nashville to present their app onstage at the 2016 National Technology Student Association Conference June 28 – July 2.
To find out more, visit our website www.cwncsafespeed.weebly.com.
