Sometimes, a when you have a great idea, bang, it just hits you. Then again, sometimes an SUV hits you instead. I’ll start by saying that everyone involved with the wreck survived, but it was still an ugly mess.
One morning, I was on my way to work after a bad storm knocked out power in my neighborhood. More importantly, it knocked out the traffic light at the busy intersection near my home. People were diligently treating the failed signal like a stop sign. When it was my turn to cross the intersection, another driver was texting instead of paying attention to the traffic at hand. Without slowing down at all, she plowed through the intersection.
Sometimes, a when you have a great idea, bang, it just hits you. Then again, sometimes an SUV hits you instead.
That day, not only did I lose my car, but I hit my head so hard that I lost any sense of reason. I rolled out of the passenger side since my door was pinned shut. Then, I stumbled out of the middle of the road and pulled out my phone. The only problem was that I didn’t know that it was called a “phone,” or even how to use it. It was like that old joke, “What’s the number for 911?”
How do you use a phone?
First, I stared at the phone through the fog of confusion for several minutes. Then, I remembered that I was married and I should use this communication device to call my wife. Unfortunately, it would be a while before I figured out how to do that. I finally figured the phone out well enough to call her. To this day, I have absolutely no recollection of talking with the first responders, but my wife assures me that I did, and that they were very nice. Off to the hospital.
The headache was just beginning.
I was lying there on the table with a soul-crushing headache and waiting for the radiologist to review the CT. There, I thought to myself, “I wish people would stop messing with their phones while driving.” I wished I could help people put their phones down behind the wheel.
The doctor came back to tell me that I wouldn’t need any surgery. Nonetheless, I had a pretty bad case of post-concussion syndrome. That’s medical jargon for, “Brace yourself; you have months of confusion and fatigue ahead of you.” If you’ve never had a bad concussion, you just do dotty things like give a bartender a 40% tip after he gave you the wrong drink. If you can imagine living with that kind of confusion for six months, you know what I went through, all because another driver was playing with her phone.
Because of that wreck, BT/notify was born.
About a week later, it occurred to me that I could probably send messages from a phone to a car stereo using the same magic that music apps use to send the song title to the screen. That way, you get the messages that are important to you without ever having to touch your phone.
Don’t get me wrong–You will still need to pay attention to the road. I can’t stop you from having a wreck, but if I can at least help you keep your hands off the phone and on the wheel, then everyone’s a little bit safer.
This is BTnotify. Get your copy today.