The Idiot Light App

You know the old saying (well, the new, old saying): "There is an app for that!"

This morning, on the way to work, I thought up a new app. I was following this Honda sedan and it was miles behind the car in front of it. He would not close up the gap and car after car pulled into our lane in front of him. He was slowing every one in the lane.

Looking into his car from behind, I could see his face in the rear-view mirror and I realized he was intensely focused on his phone. He only looked up briefly, probably to make sure he had at least a mile between his car and the next car, then poof, back down to his phone. I am reasonably sure this is against the law! It is sure stupid! I wished I had an Abrams Tank and could flatten him right then and there! (Sorry Tank drivers, that is probably not nice, but...)

Then I thought up an app for that!

It seems that most cars have Mrs. Garmin on board these days. Mrs. Garmin knows exactly where the car is, and it knows how fast it is going. Some Garmins also have a Bluetooth capability that can interface with the phone. So, I came up with an idea.

Let's have the phone and the Garmin get together and do something if the car is moving and the "Idiot on board" is manipulating the phone. The Garmin knows how fast the "Idiot" is driving, so we can have the app phone someone (like the police) if the "idiot" is speeding. We can also report texting when the car is going slowly on a major highway, especially when the car is moving much slower than the posted speed limit. The "idiot" is probably in heavy traffic and paying little to no attention to driving. We could even hook in the passenger seat sensor to make sure it is the driver doing the phone stuff! I suppose if there are passengers, we can't be sure it is the driver being an "idiot"

Now, I know someone will say that in an emergency, using the phone in the car is necessary. I know that is true, but believe me, there was no emergency going on in that Honda! Maybe I could at least put an "Idiot on Board" light on top of all cars and have the app blink that light so other folks can keep out of their way.

Sigh! Some one will scream that this is an intrusion into their personal freedoms. So the app will not get written. I guess we will just have to wait until Nature takes care of the situation! Nature hates idiots!

There! I have vented sufficiently. At least until I find myself behind another one!