“TextKills Tour” That Began in OC Ends in D.C.

The CEO and founder of Iconosys, a Laguna Hills company that developed a cell phone safety app aimed at combating texting while driving, rolled
into Washington, D.C., in a 36-foot motor home today to end his
cross-country “TextKills Tour.”

The University of Denver, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa,
Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Pittsburgh
and Wharton University in Pennsylvania were among the stops Wayne Irving
II
made since leaving Orange County on Sept. 9. The finish line was the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's second annual National
Distracted Driving Summit in D.C.
]

“Colleges are the front line in the battle against TWD, especially during the first month of the new college year,” says Cygel White, whose virtual Iconosys business card reads “Executive Enthusiast, Textkills.com,” in a Iconosys statement. “Needless casualties can be avoided, if we'd only just put it down!”

“It” would be your cell phone, which Iconosys readily points out can still answer calls and texts with the company's SMS Replier app, which delivers automatic, fully customizable replies when one is busy doing something else–like driving.

According to the NHTSA, in 2008 alone, nearly 6,000 people died and more than half a million people were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver. More than 20 percent of all crashes that same year involved some type of distraction, such as texting behind the wheel.

The “TextKills Tour” allowed Inrving to unveil a “Collegiate Version” of the app for the Android–and to give out 100,000 copies of the $20 product. The company is also donating $2 from every sale of the “Collegiate Version” over the next two months to FocusDriven.org, a nonprofit advocacy organization for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using cell phones.  

“We feel that our app provides something akin to a medicinal relief for those who suffer from what I refer to as 'texting anxiety,' where the text recipient hears that tone coming from his or her phone, and feels compelled to pick up that phone and check for texting – regardless of the circumstances,” Irving says.

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