SEATTLE - We all depend on our cell-phones to keep us in touch no matter where we are, but let's face it they are distracting. Now, a local man has figured out a way to simplify your phone when it comes to texting and it could just save a few lives along the way.
In a split second in a Queen Anne Alley near his family's home, Erik Wood saw his daughter's life flash before his eyes.
"Eve was in front of me, the car came right down through here and I pulled Eve back, from right here. The car she came about this far away. I looked up and I saw the driver had both thumbs on a keyboard, she was texting away," said Wood.
That's when Wood decided something had to be done to stop it. So, he developed an App called the "one touch text response," Otter for short.
"Here's the opening screen, there's the Otter icon, you open it up," said Wood.
Once you download the App your phone still gets incoming text messages, but Otter keeps it from vibrating or lighting up to distract you. Instead, it generates an automatic reply that lets senders know what you're doing and when you'll safely get back to them.
"I put in one today when I was talking to Q13 that says I am talking with Q13 Fox and I'll get back to you around 5 o'clock," said Wood.
The application also has something called Otter speed protection. If someone is driving over 10 miles per hour it was will send an auto-reply to let the person know the text can't be answered because the person is behind the wheel.
And, if you're thinking teens will just go in and disable it, Wood says there's this.
"For teen drivers, this is the parent going into parental controls, you enter a pass-code, and that's about it," said Wood.
Wood says he understands we're all busy and it can be difficult to put down the cell-phone and concentrate on what you're doing behind the wheel. But, he says not doing that is a life or death decision.
"She never saw us, she never even stopped to say I'm sorry," said Wood.
A decision he hopes his invention will make it easier to make.
So far, Otter only works on android phones, but could soon be available for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Win Mobile.
There are about a dozen other Apps out there meant to help you avoid the temptation of texting while driving. Some keep you from using the phone when the car is going more than 10 miles an hour, others lock the phone and won't let you text unless you match a password sequence that flashes on the screen, supposedly impossible to do while you're driving.
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