The Canary Project is a new phone app that is available for both iPhones and Androids. The purpose of the app is to let parents know when their teenage driver is texting, talking on the phone or using social media while on the road. Just like the canary in the coal mines years ago raised the alert to miners about dangerous gas, this app will send parents an immediate alert to warn them of their teen’s dangerous driving.
The non-profit organization is based in Columbia, South Carolina. 52apps, a Columbia-based developer of smartphone apps, is a major sponsor of the organization, along with the South Carolina chapter of the National Safety Council and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.
The Canary app kicks on whenever the vehicle the phone is in goes over twelve miles per hour. It allows parents to set speeding limits for teen drivers, and even senses if the teen is in someone else’s car and that car is speeding. Canary also tells parents when a child violates a curfew or travels into areas set as “off limits” or beyond areas set as “safe.”
In a recent study, researchers at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., concluded that texting while driving has become a greater hazard than drinking and driving among teenagers. Many teens openly acknowledged sending and reading text messages while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. The study put estimates at more than 3,000 annual teen deaths nationwide from texting and 300,000 injuries.
Our North Carolina personal injury law firm has reported on multiple accidents where distracted driving was determined to be the cause. Many people, despite the statistics, think “it’s okay just this once”, with sometimes deadly consequences. We’ve also published an In-Depth Legal Report on the Risks Associated with Distracted Driving.