Skip to main content

eBrake to stop distracted driving

Canadian company eBrake Technologies says its smartphone app is unlike any other as it automatically locks the device on which it is installed every time it detects vehicle-related motion. The company has just launched a pilot program with Canadian mobile network provider Telus. Once installed on either an Android and iOS smartphone, the eBrake app automatically blocks incoming notifications whenever motion is detected (by all modes from bicycle to airplane) without the need for in-vehicle hardware.
September 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Canadian company eBrake Technologies says its smartphone app is unlike any other as it automatically locks the device on which it is installed every time it detects vehicle-related motion. The company has just launched a pilot program with Canadian mobile network provider Telus.

Once installed on either an 1812 Android and iOS smartphone, the eBrake app automatically blocks incoming notifications whenever motion is detected (by all modes from bicycle to airplane) without the need for in-vehicle hardware. The App cannot be deactivated but passengers can unlock their device by completing the Passenger Unlock Test which, the company says, takes less than 10 seconds but cannot be completed by a driver while driving.

Approved in-vehicle communications and entertainment systems are unaffected so a driver can safely and legally use functions such as maps, music and other features using voice activated programs like 1691 Google Assistant and Siri, or by entering a destination or selecting a playlist prior to setting off in the vehicle.

One-touch, automatic emergency calling to 911 remains available to drivers at all times.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Avoiding the call of the wild
    June 29, 2018
    Hitting an animal on a rural road can be fatal for all parties involved – but detecting and avoiding them requires clever technology. Andrew Williams carefully scans the horizon for details. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an ever-present threat in rural areas around the world, and there is certainly nothing funny about suddenly finding an angry moose in your headlights on a sharp bend. A variety of detection and avoidance systems are currently in use or under development to help prevent your vehicle being
  • The future looks bright for ITS
    June 4, 2015
    Professor Eric Sampson talks about the past successes of ITS, its potential for the future and the challenges the industry faces. If anybody should know when Intelligent Transport Systems started that person is Professor Eric Sampson, a visiting professor at both Newcastle and London City Universities. Having spent 40 years working for the UK’s Department of Transport and other public administrations, Professor Sampson now supports the European Commission on ITS systems and advises ERTICO ITS-Europe and ITS
  • Making enforcement multi-functional
    June 23, 2016
    New enforcement equipment is coming onto the market apace, as Colin Sowman discovers. If there is one word that epitomises the current trend in enforcement technology then that word is consolidation: multi-function cameras, miniaturisation and combining radar and visual detection methods. One example is Turkish company Ekin Technology’s recently introduced Micro Plate is claimed to be the smallest licence plate recognition device. In addition to logging licence plate data, the system records speed, date, ti
  • Google AV in collision with public transit bus
    March 1, 2016
    According to a report made by Google to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), one of its autonomous vehicles (AV) has been in collision with a municipal bus in California. The crash happened on Valentine’s Day, when the Lexus RX-450H was travelling in autonomous mode in the right-hand lane approaching an intersection. It moved to the far right lane to make a right turn, but stopped when it detected sand bags sitting around a storm drain and blocking its path.