We haven’t talked about distracted driving and texting while driving in a little while, so today we wanted to touch on an interesting issue related to distracted driving. Although the source article for our story today doesn’t involve the state of Missouri, it does relate to devices and laws that could be applied in any state in the future. So let’s take a look at what developers and officials are calling the “textalyzer.”
As you can probably guess, the device’s name is derived from the infamous Breathalyzer, which is used to detect a person’s blood alcohol level after they are pulled over under the suspicion of drunk driving. However, the “textalyzer” would analyze a person’s phone after they have been in a car accident, or after they have been pulled over on suspicion of operating their vehicle while using their cellphone.
The “textalyzer” would then tell the police officers when the driver was texting and using their phone. They could use this information to give tickets out to offenders.
Now, you may be asking “why is this device necessary in the first place?” They could just look at a person’s cellphone, right?
Well, no. That violates privacy rights and the police would need a warrant to check a person’s phone, unless it was voluntarily given up to them. So this textalyzer would actually be a critical tool in the arsenal of police officers. It could dramatically improve the enforcement of texting bans and cellphone use while driving laws.
Source: WFMY, “‘Textalyzer’ Would Bust Texting Drivers, Could Come to NC,” Savannah Levins, Oct. 31, 2017