MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (1/12/12) — Some 16.5 million drivers are
involved in traffic crashes in the United States each year, and more than 12
percent of them are under the age of 20 — despite the fact that teenage drivers
constitute less than 5 percent of the total driving population1. Using research from the University of Minnesota, Drive
Power, LLC, aims to change those grim statistics by introducing DriveScribe™, a
revolutionary mobile app that encourages safe driving habits and provides
real-time coaching to novice drivers.
“For the first time, the same technology that has significantly increased the prevalence of distracted driving will be used to reduce distractions and promote safe driving behaviors,” said William England, founder and CEO of Minneapolis-based Drive Power. “While the National Transportation Safety Board has recently called for a nationwide ban on using cell phones while driving, DriveScribe provides a much more practical, engaging, and ultimately effective solution to combat distracted driving as well as provide assistance to novice drivers.”
Developed by university mechanical engineering department researchers Alec Gorjestani, Arvind Menon, Eddie Arpin, Craig Shankwitz, Janet Creaser, Michael Manser and Max Donath, the technology combines several important functions to promote safe driving. It provides real-time feedback to the driver; blocks calls, emails, and text messages while the vehicle is in operation; notifies parents in real time when traffic violations occur; and logs driving activity to the DriveScribe web portal for later review.
“We’re trying to help teens become better drivers, sooner,” said Gorjestani, who also serves as Drive Power’s vice president of technology. “The crash rate for new drivers is very high, especially in the first six months of driving, so we decided to do something about it.”
Social comparisons, points and rewards for safe driving, and a sophisticated scoring system to quantify the attributes of safe driving, referred to as the Safe Driver Score, are the major features Drive Power is incorporating into DriveScribe on top of what was built at the University in preparation for the application’s public release in the spring of this year. DriveScribe is not only for teen drivers and their parents, but eventually senior drivers, commercial vehicle fleets and insurance companies.
The technology behind DriveScribe was licensed exclusively to Drive Power by the University of Minnesota’s Office for Technology Commercialization. The research was funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute, which is housed in the College of Science and Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering and is part of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota.
“For the first time, the same technology that has significantly increased the prevalence of distracted driving will be used to reduce distractions and promote safe driving behaviors,” said William England, founder and CEO of Minneapolis-based Drive Power. “While the National Transportation Safety Board has recently called for a nationwide ban on using cell phones while driving, DriveScribe provides a much more practical, engaging, and ultimately effective solution to combat distracted driving as well as provide assistance to novice drivers.”
Developed by university mechanical engineering department researchers Alec Gorjestani, Arvind Menon, Eddie Arpin, Craig Shankwitz, Janet Creaser, Michael Manser and Max Donath, the technology combines several important functions to promote safe driving. It provides real-time feedback to the driver; blocks calls, emails, and text messages while the vehicle is in operation; notifies parents in real time when traffic violations occur; and logs driving activity to the DriveScribe web portal for later review.
“We’re trying to help teens become better drivers, sooner,” said Gorjestani, who also serves as Drive Power’s vice president of technology. “The crash rate for new drivers is very high, especially in the first six months of driving, so we decided to do something about it.”
Social comparisons, points and rewards for safe driving, and a sophisticated scoring system to quantify the attributes of safe driving, referred to as the Safe Driver Score, are the major features Drive Power is incorporating into DriveScribe on top of what was built at the University in preparation for the application’s public release in the spring of this year. DriveScribe is not only for teen drivers and their parents, but eventually senior drivers, commercial vehicle fleets and insurance companies.
The technology behind DriveScribe was licensed exclusively to Drive Power by the University of Minnesota’s Office for Technology Commercialization. The research was funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute, which is housed in the College of Science and Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering and is part of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota.
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