Unique “Driving Assistant” Application Flags Upcoming Dangerous Intersections and Other Road Hazards
deCarta, the leading independent enabler of location-based services, today announced that it has partnered with Global Mobile Alert to provide critical technology, services and data to a "driving assistant" application that can improve road safety. The first of its kind application is a GPS-enabled early warning system that alerts potentially distracted drivers through their cell phones when they approach stop lights, railroad and school crossings and hazardous road conditions. NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of maps, traffic and location data enabling navigation, provides the map data utilized in the application.
"We are excited to partner with deCarta and NAVTEQ," said Demetrius Thompson, founder and chairman of Global Mobile Alert Corporation. "This partnership places our companies in the forefront of the constant battle against driver distraction, and more importantly, it has the potential to save many lives."
Thompson was inspired to create this type of technology and application after he was involved in two separate accidents caused by distracted drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents.
"The attraction of the Global Mobile Alert solution is its elegant simplicity," said Roger C. Lanctot, associate director of the Global Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics. "With the application activated, the mobile phone becomes a driving assistant alerting the driver to hazardous road conditions, and it does so simply making use of the device already in the driver’s pocket or pocketbook. A simple download can convert a phone from a potentially dangerous to a potentially life-saving device."
The app also features a "Pull Over to Text" reminder for drivers to pull over if they receive text messages.
"We are thrilled to be involved in powering an application that flips many expectations by enabling a mobile phone to increase a driver’s safety," said J. Kim Fennell, president and CEO of deCarta. "It offers such an easy way to improve awareness behind the wheel. We look forward to watching the application’s use expand, and hopefully, become a standard among safe drivers."
The Global Mobile Alert application is currently available in many major cities and 40 countries worldwide for $9.99 (per year) through the Verizon app store and as a download for Android phones. The driver does not have to be on a call for the application to work.
About Global Mobile Alert
Global Mobile Alert was a finalist at the 2010 Telematics Update Awards for Industry Newcomer and Best Use of Telematics Technology in the Public. The company was founded in 2005 based on patented technology created by Demetrius Thompson and intended to mitigate the scourge of distracted driving, which has emerged in the past year as a major public policy issue. Global Mobile Alert delivers many of the crash avoidance benefits anticipated from technologies – such as V2X communication – which will not arrive in the market for more than a decade. Using the driver’s smartphone with GMA technology makes future safety functionality possible today. For more information, visit http://www.globalmobilealert.com/.
About deCarta
deCarta is the leading independent enabler of location-based services for mobile network operators, mobile device OEMs and local media companies. deCarta’s technology includes an industry-leading LBS platform, white-label applications, APIs, a local search engine and content indexing; these power many leading applications for mapping, navigation, local search, mobile advertising, social networking and enterprise. For more information, go to http://www.decarta.com/.