New tool aims to disable texting and browsing on phones while driving

New technology from a Georgia-based company could help prevent a dangerous habit: texting while driving.

According to USA Today, the company plans to provide software to government agencies and businesses that disables the texting, e-mailing and web-browsing functions of a wireless phone in moving vehicles.

A management and logistics firm called Manage Mobility will provide the technology, which was developed by WebSafety, Inc.

Stacy Chisum, Manage Mobility's vice president of sales, said their customers want the software to be made available soon.

"We are being asked by our customers what to do on this sort of thing, especially since October ... when President Obama issued the federal order banning federal employees from texting while operating government-owned vehicles," said Chisum.

Laws against texting while driving in 30 states and the District of Columbia have proven difficult to enforce, but consumer driven movements have begun to discourage the behavior -- and several apps are already geared towards preventing people from sending texts behind the wheel.

Applications like iZup, tXtBlocker, ZoomSafer and CellSafety use a phone's GPS to determine whether it is going over 5 or 10 mph, but those apps do not work on the iPhone.

WebSafety developed a program called CellSafety in response to the concern over teens texting behind the wheel, and CEO Rowland Day said that the industry-based software grew out of that.

"We believe that employers are becoming fully aware of the extension of liability" for crashes caused by employees texting while driving, Day said.