This App Has Made Me A Safer Driver

I WAS DRIVING, hands at 10 and two, admiring the sun glittering off the still waters of Buffalo Bayou, when I felt the buzz in my pocket. I felt an overwhelming urge to pull it out and check whatever text message or email I’d received. But I fought that urge. After all, my phone was stowed away in my jeans for a purpose.

Having just downloaded the SAFE2SAVE app, founded in 2016 by Marci Corry to combat distracted driving in Texas, I knew that the app would know that I’d picked up my phone, and therefore stop counting the points I’d been adding up simply by driving without checking my phone.

I won that round, but in that moment was acutely aware of how accustomed I’d become to checking my phone—however briefly—while behind the wheel of a vehicle.

The SAFE2SAVE app—which currently has about 125,000 users and is adding about 1,000 per day, through one of its new sponsors, the Memorial Hermann Life Flight—follows a basic premise: It alerts users when they’ve picked up or used their phones when their cars are in motion, sending a pop-up notification asking them not to “tech and drive.”

For every minute users spend driving over a certain speed, the app awards them points for driving undistracted. These can be used at businesses that partner with the app to provide rewards and discounts on food and merchandise. Participants so far include Hugs & Donuts and Chick-fil-A.