ORIGOSafe Will Not Start Your Car until Your Phone is Docked

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates nearly one-third of all traffic collisions, or 1.6 million accidents total, involve drivers who were distracted using their cell phones to talk or text. Another scary fact about distracted driving: a driver going 55 MPH experiences the same effect of driving the length of a football field while blindfolded for the average time it takes to text a message – which is 4.6 seconds.

When you combine all the statistics with the inexperience of young drivers, the problem becomes even more alarming.

The introduction of the ORIGOSafe ignition interlock system comes at a time when the statistics for this deadly epidemic is on the rise.

The concept behind ORIGOSafe is to make drivers think before they use their phone while driving. It does this by making the driver place the phone in a docking station installed in the car. If the phone is not in the docking station, the vehicle will not start. Although it might seem like a chore, it is designed to facilitate the safest driving environment without being a general inconvenience.

When the driver gets in the vehicle, s/he must place the phone in the docking station to get the car started. Once the phone is in the docking station and the vehicle is in motion, the driver can use the hands-free option to apply the functions of the phone available through verbal commands.

If at any time during a trip the phone is removed from the docking station, an alarm will sound until the phone is replaced. When this takes place, the vehicle will not start again once the car has stopped, and an administrator of some sort – generally the parent, guardian or a person responsible for the vehicle – is contacted.

Once the phone is reauthorized, the vehicle can be started again.

The system can be configured by the administrator, so one-time use codes can be issued to start the vehicle in case the phone is lost or stolen, needs to be serviced or the driver has to give it to a valet to park the car. Additional controls the administrator can use include setting time limits, adding and changing the number of users and phones, and adjusting the parameters of how the vehicle can be used as the driver gains experience and becomes more responsible.

The ORIGOSafe is available in consumer versions and in a commercial version, as a fleet management package to give owners and fleet risk managers a tool for monitoring their drivers and ensuring only authorized personnel are using the vehicles.

"ORIGOSafe was developed to give parents and safety managers peace of mind, knowing that their drivers are safe and focused on the road, and aren't a danger to themselves or others. With highway deaths on the rise, particularly among teens, it's clear that the concern for safety isn't enough to stop this deadly driving behavior. There has to be an outside force to incite change," said Clay Skelton, ORIGO's founder.