New ‘Textalyzer’ is Breathalyzer for Distracted Driving

In a huge step forward in the fight against distracted driving, a new device has been developed by Israeli company Cellebrite that will act as a texting equivalent to a breathalyzer. It will allow police officers to check the phones of people involved in road accidents and see whether they were in use in the minutes prior to the crash.

While law enforcement officials can currently check devices–with the consent of the user–there is a privacy issue that makes it a sticky area. However, this new device would allow officers to check devices without invading the owner’s privacy.

A bill has already been put forward by New York State Sen. Terrence Murphy to make these devices standard issue for police officers.

Hopefully it will be passed and we will start to see a decrease in distracted driving as soon as possible. Until then, we will have to just do our best to each do our part.

To read more about the “textalyzer” head over to this article from ABC News.