Smartphone-Blocking Tech Prevents Driver Distraction Crashes

As cell phone use continues to be a number one trigger of car accidents, a variety of applied sciences has emerged designed to fight distracted driving. From cellular apps to hardware-integrated methods, these instruments goal to restrict telephone use behind the wheel. But a more in-depth look reveals important variations in how successfully they stop distractions—particularly in fleet autos.

While apps like AT&T’s DriveMode and Apple’s built-in Do Not Disturb While Driving provide fundamental protections, they rely closely on driver cooperation. Many could be bypassed with a swipe or a second telephone, limiting their effectiveness when legal responsibility and security are paramount.

“We think technologies that reduce visual-manual interaction with phones are obviously a good thing,” Ian Reagan, a senior analysis scientist on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety instructed IEEE Spectrum. “But most are opt-in. We’d like to see them as opt-out by default.”

“Mobile use while driving is an addiction. We needed a system that prevents distraction without waiting for the driver to choose safety. That’s what we built.” Ori Gilboa, SaverOne

Now, a brand new technology of anti-distraction know-how is shifting from smooth nudges to exhausting enforcement. And for corporations managing fleets of drivers, the stakes—and the options—are getting extra severe.

The Need for Enforceable Solutions

“There’s a difference between tools that monitor and tools that prevent,” says Ori Gilboa, CEO of SaverOne, a Tel Aviv–space startup main a brand new wave of hardware-integrated options that make driver cooperation a nonissue. “That distinction matters when lives are on the line.”

SaverOne’s system makes use of a passive sensor community to scan the automobile cabin for telephones, determine the motive force’s system, and place it into “safe mode”—mechanically blocking dangerous apps whereas permitting important features like navigation and preapproved voice calls. Crucially, the system works even when the motive force tries to cheat by disabling Bluetooth or by bringing a second telephone.

Designed to Be Driverproof

The system consists of 4 small hidden sensors and a central receiver—concerning the measurement of an iPhone—put in contained in the automobile. It can pinpoint cellular gadgets inside centimeters and distinguishes between driver and passenger telephones. If the motive force’s telephone is energetic and doesn’t hook up with SaverOne’s app, a buzzer sounds till the problem is resolved.

“What sets us apart is our prevention-first approach,” says Gilboa. “Most systems focus on what went wrong after the fact. We stop the distraction before it happens.”

Gilboa mentioned the system’s design respects driver usability, preserving instruments like turn-by-turn navigation and voice calls to permitted contacts. “We want drivers to be reachable—but not distracted,” he provides.

Global Expansion, Measurable Impact

Since launching its second-generation product in 2022, SaverOne has quickly expanded. After early pilot deployments with Israeli fleet operators comparable to Bynet Data Communications, Israel Electric Corporation, and ice-cream purveyor Froneri, the corporate gained traction, securing offers with a broader array of Israeli corporations. By mid-2023, Cemex Israel, the worldwide cement large’s native subsidiary, had agreed to deploy the driver-distraction-prevention system on its 380-vehicle fleet. In January 2024, following a profitable trial with 17 vans, Strauss Group, certainly one of Israel’s largest meals and beverage corporations, determined to put in the SaverOne system on its fleet of 80 food-delivery vans. Though smaller than the Cemex Israel contract, that settlement proved important as a result of Strauss collected information demonstrating a statistically important discount in accident charges among the many outfitted autos. That information has helped SaverOne in its bid to go world. CEMEX has since outfitted vans in fleets throughout Europe. In the United States, SaverOne is now being adopted by FedEx contractors in North Carolina and Philadelphia, says Gilboa.

Some fleet operators report as a lot as a 60 % discount in accident charges post-installation. While these figures are troublesome to confirm independently, a extra concrete metric is telephone interplay. Fleet managers have noticed a dramatic drop—from drivers checking their telephones 10 occasions per hour to close zero.

“The system educates through behavior,” says Gilboa. “It’s not about punishment—it’s about making the right choice automatic.”

But Reagan cautions that long-term behavioral change stays unproven, evaluating it to early clever velocity help trials in Europe utilizing methods that detected autos’ areas, used digital maps to maintain observe of native velocity limits, and lowered engine energy to forestall the autos from exceeding the authorized restrict. “When the limiter was on,” Reagan says, “people obeyed the posted speed limits. When it was turned off, they sped again. Whether tech like this [driver-distraction-prevention system] creates lasting change—well, we just don’t know yet.”

Could Regulation Be the Tipping Point?

Despite promising outcomes, broader adoption—significantly within the shopper market—could hinge on regulation. IIHS’s Reagan notes that though distracted driving formally accounts for about 10 % of crash fatalities, or roughly 3,500 deaths per yr, the actual determine is probably going far increased. Despite the undercount, the urgency continues to be exhausting to disregard. As Reagan put it, “Phones let you mentally escape the car, even when you’re barreling down the highway at 115 kilometers per hour [about 70 miles per hour]. That’s the real danger.”

He provides that authorities regulation requiring carmakers to put in methods like SaverOne’s may very well be a sport changer. “The tech exists,” Reagan mentioned. “What we need is the political will to mandate it.”

SaverOne continues to be centered on fleet prospects, however the firm is in discussions with insurers exploring providing reductions to younger or high-risk drivers who use distraction-prevention methods, Gilboa says.

“Mobile use while driving is an addiction,” he says. “We needed a system that prevents distraction without waiting for the driver to choose safety. That’s what we built.”