found on the internet...

I came across this article about a new technology that is being developed that will help with the problem of talking on the phone while driving. This technology will be embedded in the car key. Once the key is put into the car's ignition, it will activate a "driving mode" in the driver's cell phone to where it is rendered unusable except for outgoing emergency calls. It will even answer any incoming calls with a message saying something like, "I am driving right now and will return your calls when I arrive at my destination safely."

"The recent stats show that texting on the phone has overtaken drunk driving fatalities on public roads."

"Driving while talking on a cell phone makes you four times more likely to have an accident. Using a hands-free headset does nothing to off set that risk. Texting increases the odds of an accident another 50 percent."

After reading these quotes from the article, I'm thinking that this may be a very good thing, and not just for teenagers, which is the initial target of said technology. Yes, teenagers may not have as much driving experience as an older driver, but even an experienced driver can't give 100% of his or her attention to driving if they're talking on the phone, or even worse, texting while driving. So I look forward to every state mandating "no cell phone" laws and to having something like this new technology in place.

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And here's something fun and challenging. How well do you think you know where all 50 states are within the U.S. border? Know Your States is an addicting site where you can test your geographical knowledge. The best I did was 86% with an average error of 20 miles in 433 seconds. You would think after playing it quite a few times, my score would be better. But each time you do it, the order they give you the states is different, making some games harder than others.

Give it a try. You might want your kids to try it too, just to see if they're more knowledgeable than you. Let me know what your score is.