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App hides texts from drivers until car stops

Once you're going 15 miles per hour, the app keeps text notifications from your smart phone.

Texting and driving isn't new, but technology that stops drivers from doing it certainly is.

Enter people like Mark Giga with AT&T, which launched a smart phone app a few years ago that stops you from getting texts while driving.

"It just takes the temptation away," Giga says. "Once you turn on the app and start driving, the minute you hit going 15 miles an hour or faster, you no longer will receive text message notifications on your smart phone."

And the texter gets an automatic message back telling them you're driving.

When the car stops, the notifications arrive.

KARE 11's Jay Olstad tries out the AT&T app that helps him keep both hands on the wheel.

Giga says AT&T isn't the only company doing this.

"Apple is going to do is when they launch their new software update later this fall, they're going to include an anti-texting driving feature," he says.

But he says AT&T discovered with their research that even technology doesn't match a passenger's persuasion.

"'Please put the phone down,' was the most effective anti-texting driving measure we found," he says.

The AT&T app is free to download, but you may have to pay service charges if you're not an AT&T customer.

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