# A Novel Distracted Driving Prevention Tool

> **NIH NIH R44** · MINNESOTA HEALTHSOLUTIONS CORPORATION · 2022 · $669,615

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The overall goal of the proposed project is to prevent young drivers from using their mobile phones (e.g., texting,
calling or messaging through a third-party app) while driving. A novel technology is proposed to reduce the
prevalence of distracted driving due to mobile phone use. The system will innovatively engage the senders of
smartphone communications in the process of preventing distractions. The leading health threat to teens in the
U.S. is motor vehicle crashes. Teens behind the wheel and their peer passengers account for one in every five
deaths of 15 to 19 year-olds in the United States. According to police crash reports, cellphone use while driving
among teen drivers greatly increases the likelihood of severe injuries in crashes. In 2018, 89% of teens owned a
smartphone and 80% of teens are daily texters. Teens strongly intend to use their cellphone for calling or texting in
general and are significantly more likely than adults to engage in text-messaging while driving. Teens know the
dangers of distracted driving intellectually, yet continue to participate. Teens feel particularly strongly that they
need to answer calls or reply to texts from a parent while they are driving and report the person who contacts them
most often while they are driving is a parent. Many states are enacting laws to curb texting and cellphone use
while driving; however, the continued prevalence of this activity even where it is illegal illustrates the need for novel
solutions. Technological solutions, in the form of hardware or software that block texting and calling (interlocks)
exist, but their effectiveness to date has been limited for a variety of reasons and these technologies only seek to
affect the behavior of the driver. We propose a novel technological solution that engages both the driver and the
person sending a message to the driver in the mission of preventing distracted driving.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10488804
- **Project number:** 5R44HD103550-03
- **Recipient organization:** MINNESOTA HEALTHSOLUTIONS CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Sara Seifert
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $669,615
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-15 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10488804

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10488804, A Novel Distracted Driving Prevention Tool (5R44HD103550-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10488804. Licensed CC0.

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