A local company is trying to stop Jacksonville car accidents caused by texting teens.
Elyk Innovation Inc., a Jacksonville-based Web design company, can’t stop kids from text messaging. But they have figured out a way to stop them from texting on their cell phones while driving.
The application, which costs $9.95, is being called Textecution. It can be viewed and purchased at www.textecution.com.
For the moment, Textecution works only on the G1 Google phone. But they hope to bring the application to other types of cell phones in 2009, said Joe Lemire, chief innovator for Elyk Innovation.
A global positioning system determines when the phone is traveling more than 10 mph and the Textecution application then shuts down the texting function. If a teenager is in a car but not driving, he or she can push a button asking permission to text. The parent then gets a cell phone message asking if the child can text.
If the parent consents, the child can text for the next four hours.