In the midst of what many are calling a “distracted driving epidemic,” a new device has been created to help stop preventable accidents from occurring.
Named after its similarities to a traditional Breathalyzer, the “textalyzer” is a developing device that has the power to reveal whether or not drivers were using their cellphones at the time of a car accident.
The new device, developed by Israeli company “Cellebrite“, works by attaching itself to cell phones and encrypting files of activity. Once the textalyzer is attached to a cell phone, it can report the exact time when a phone was swiped or clicked. However, the device cannot reveal any sent text messages or other content that might have been displayed on the screen moments before a car crash.
The New York Police Department is reportedly considering a proposal that will grant police officers permission to use the textalyzer on the scene of car accidents. But certain civil liberty groups are speaking out against the proposal with concerns about the lack of privacy.
Civil liberty group members worry that a device such as, the textalyzer, would enable law enforcement to search without a warrant which would be deemed unconstitutional in a court of law.
Proponents argue that by allowing the use of a textalyzer, the police officers would be able to seek a warrant to determine the exact activity that was going on in the phone prior to the accident.
The proposed bill that is under consideration by New York legislators includes language that would suspend the driver license of people who refuse to submit their phones to law enforcement after an accident.
In the bill it states that, “every person who operates a motor vehicle in the state shall be deemed to have given consent to field testing of his or her mobile telephone and/or personal electronic device for the purpose of determining the use thereof while operating a motor vehicle.”
Distracted driving is the cause for over 40,000 deaths per year and has increased by 14 percent since 2014. Although most states have laws that ban the use of cellphones while driving, police departments across the country have a hard time tracking down wrongdoers.
However, the New York Civil Liberties Union is standing tall against allowing the textalyzer to become legal practice. “This bill gives police power to take and search people’s’ phones—which contain our most personal, private information—at every fender bender,” the NYCLU said in a statement last month.
“We don’t yet know if textalyzers can even detect distracted driving. But we are certain that enforcing this proposed law would violate people’s privacy and could potentially impute guilt for innocent activities.”
The bill has already been approved by New York’s state senate committee on transportation, however, it is still pending within the finance committee. If passed, the textalyzer device will not be implemented until early next year when the device is released on the market.