Jeremy Brilliant/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis - If you know someone who is a bad driver, but you can't tell them, there is a new iPhone app to do it for you. The "driving buddy" monitors how a person drives and gives them suggestions on how to do drive better.
Teaching people to drive is what Lyla Britton does for a living. Tuesday, the Martinsville Driving Institute instructor tested out the new Driving Buddy app.
"I find myself tempted to keep looking down to see if it's telling me something," Britton said.
The app uses the iPhone's built in accelerometer to detect sudden movements, such as jack rabbit accelerations and sharp turns. Good driving is rewarded with points above a smiley face, while jerky moves get devil points. At the end, the driver gets a final grade.
"It's a backseat driver," said Drew McKinney, the app's inventor.
McKinney developed the app as part of his Master's thesis at Indiana University. He hopes it will promote defensive driving.
"What I've noticed in user testing is that people, after awhile, will start to notice the app running and notice the driving buddy's face and are more aware of their driving because of it," McKinney said.
There are a growing number of applications available for drivers, everything from a GPS to one that helps you keep your hands on the wheel while you're texting. The FDI Hands Free app allows drivers to send texts verbally.
Britton applauds the technology but thinks the driving buddy could be a distraction.
"I was tempted to just keep looking at the screen to see how I was scoring, basically. So, I think just the fact that anything that they're doing in the car other than driving is going to be taking their attention away from the driving," she said.
About 2,000 people have downloaded the app, which aims to improve safety, but only if you keep your eyes on the road. The Driving Buddy is available for $1.99 at the Apple App Store and a version for Android phones is in the works.
