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Textattle

Textattle is a distracted driving app that works by telling your mom on you when you text and drive.

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Textattle

Textattle

Textattle

Textattle

Textattle

Textattle is a distracted driving app that works by telling your mom on you when you text and drive.

Textattle is a distracted driving app that works by telling your mom on you when you text and drive.

Textattle is a distracted driving app that works by telling your mom on you when you text and drive.

Textattle is a distracted driving app that works by telling your mom on you when you text and drive.

Jarrod Stark
Jarrod Stark
Jarrod Stark
Jarrod Stark
1 Campaign |
Toronto, Canada
$2,497 USD 9 backers
24% of $10,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

We Want to Save Lives by Reducing Intextication

If you’re brave enough to venture out on the road, you know how many people text and drive on a regular basis. Sometimes, it’s just annoying, when a driver waiting at a light is too busy texting to notice when the light turns green. Other times, it can be deadly. 

In fact, distracted driving is now the number one cause of fatal crashes in many places; even causing more deaths than drinking and driving.

Everybody knows texting and driving is bad, but 49% of people under age 35 still do it, and according to a 2012 Ad Council study, 78% of teens and young adults admit to having read an SMS message while driving.

Governments all over the world have brought in distracted driving laws to combat the issue, and in most places, they’ve done little to curb the problem. In fact, RCMP Corporal Chris Little was quoted as saying that after 3 years of distracted driving legislation in his home province of Alberta, it’s actually getting worse…

Legislation enacted to combat distracted driving in jurisdictions around the world has often proven ineffective at lowering the rates of death and injury. It’s simply too easy to hide your phone while texting and the police can’t be everywhere at once.

Textattle is a FREE Android application currently under development that helps to provide an added incentive to hang up and drive; the wrath of your mom.

Here’s how it works. Textattle uses two technologies that are already built into your phone; text messaging and GPS, to tattle on drivers who text at speed.

So, when a driver sends a text to their friend while driving on the highway, their mom, or someone else who loves them, gets a message too. No one wants big brother telling them what to do, but we’re hoping that people will still listen to their mom.


What We Need & What You Get

We are not a big company looking to make a ton of money by launching the next big app. We just had a simple idea to combat a vexing and complicated problem; we're addicted to our phones and there is very little impedus to stop using them behind the wheel until it's too late.

  • We need to raise $10,000 to bring Textattle to market as a FREE Android app. This fee will cover the salaries for the coders and developers who are making Textattle happen, along with providing some very basic marketing and promotional support; primarily press releases, SEO, and grassroots marketing like flyers at concerts, etc.
  • A lot of people like the idea and want to help. If you're one of them, and you donate $5 to the cause, we'll send you a 'Texting and Driving is Dangerous' bumper sticker. If you really like the idea, check out some of the bigger perks.
  • If we don't reach our fundraising goal through IndieGoGo, the app will take longer to bring to market, and the iOS version and more advanced commercial applications we envision down the road. If we greatly exceed our fundraising goals we'll spend the extra money on additional app development, marketing, and media.


The Impact

We count ourselves extremely lucky to have never been the victims of a distracted driving crash, but with almost half of all drivers under 35 now admitting to texting behind the wheel, calamity seems almost inevitable. Textattle can't stop distracted driving, but if it saves even one life, it'll be totally worth it. Here's why we think it will work:

  • People who text and drive do so because they don't think about the repercussions. Your mom (or wife, or daughter, or son, of dad, or whomever it is that loves you) often do. 
  • We have put together a great team to help bring this to market; expert coders and developers at a leading sofware development company (Three Point Turn Inc) and great marketing, public relations and advertising from Billet Marketing Inc.
Textattle is not the only solution to this problem, but it's a novel step in the right direction. We know that people don't like the government telling them what to do, but we're hoping that people will still listen to their moms.


Risks & Challenges

We anticipate that some people are going to think this idea is stupid; "So what if my mom knows I text and drive?" In our experience, these are the same people who believe that they can text-and-drive safely. 

Unfortunately, it often takes a tragedy to change these people's minds. This app is for the rest of us. Those people sitting on the fence about whether or not to try and get away with it. People who know distracted driving is bad but do it anyway because they don't think they'll get caught. Thankfully very few people wake up in the morning and decide to kill someone with their car. Crashes happen because of inattention and driver error. There are no accidents.

  • Share what qualifies you to overcome these hurdles.
  • Describe your plan for solving these challenges.
Eventually we plan to offer more advanced versions of the app that cannot be easily defeated; great for parents whose kids are using their cars and texting with mobile devices paid for by parents. Fleet and commercial operators may also want to know when one of their employees is putting people on the road at risk with a company vehicle and a company phone. There are ways to give Textattle more 'teeth' but first we need to establish that this idea; a little bit of additional accountability, can have an impact on behavior. A free Android app is a great way to do that.


Other Ways You Can Help

We need more than just money. We need people spreading the word and supporting the idea, so that when the application is finished, it's well-received and can start saving lives. 

  • Share our video, site and IndieGoGo campaign via social media
  • Tell your friends and family about this cool idea
  • Share your story with us if you've been the victim of a distracted driving crash
At the moment, Textattle is a well-planned idea, with two professional teams standing by to make it happen. We need your help to turn Textattle into a reality. 
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Choose your Perk

Acknowledgement on Textattle

$2 USD
If you donate $2, we'll add your name to our Acknowledgements Wall on the Textattle website to say thank you for supporting the cause. This project is a grassroots effort and we can't do it without you.
1 claimed

novero Victoria Bluetooth

$75 USD
novero GmbH manufactures the finest Bluetooth headsets in the world. The Victoria Stripes earpiece is hand-made in Germany from black silicone and real 14K gold. This "Stripes" version is worth $295 USD, but thanks to novero's generous donation, it's yours for helping us support Textattle. Aside from paring with almost any Bluetooth device, it looks amazing. Visit http://www.chipchick.com/2010-06-novero-victoria-collection.php to learn more.
0 out of 50 of claimed
Ships to United States of America

Marketing Service for 1 Year

$25,000 USD
For $25,000, not only will you be helping to bring Textattle to market, you'll also enjoy 1 year's worth of marketing service from Billet Marketing Inc., including web design, SEO, copywriting, graphic design, video production, social media management and search engine marketing. Limits to these functions apply of course, but by helping Textattle, you'll benefit from Billet Marketing Inc.'s expertise for a reduced rate and with added feel-goods.
0 claimed

1969 VW Beetle

$50,000 USD
Clearly $50,000 is significantly more than our IndieGoGo fundraising goal. If we blow it out of the water because of a $50K gift from one kindly benefactor, we'll reward this person with the 1969 Volkswagen Bug used in our video. Perk must be picked up in person in Toronto, ON.
Estimated Shipping
September 2015
0 out of 1 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

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