Last year, the New York Times reported on a study involving texting and driving that concluded that truck drivers (professional drivers, not teenagers) who text while driving are 23 times as likely to be involved in a collision while texting.  “In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.”  You don’t have to be a physicist to understand why that’s really, really scary.

When Motorola offered to provide me with their latest hands-free device to try out ,I almost said no.   The H17txt with MotoSpeak™ reads your texts to you over Bluetooth and lets you customize automated responses, so you can put your cell down and stay focused on the road.  I never text and drive and rarely talk on my cell phone in the car.

But, many, many people do.  It occurred to me that if the handless device works well, the review might encourage people who do text and drive to purchase a device that helps them keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.  So, I decided to say yes and give the  H17txt with MotoSpeak™ to a friend who is a salesperson and spends many hours on the road for his job.  I’ll pass his review along to you.

June is National Safe Driving Month, and Motorola’s “Get Smarter”™ cars will be making a stop in Minneapolis to make sure consumers are driving responsibly and staying legal this summer. Starting June 1st follow Motorola on Twitter and Facebook for a chance to win an H17txt with MotoSpeak™ and a free ride in Motorola’s “Get Smarter”™ car on June 18^th and 19^th.   To learn more about what Motorola is doing to prevent distracted driving please see their press release here.

I’ll let you know how the handless device works for my friend!