Senators urge phonemakers to ban DUI checkpoint apps, Blackberry first to comply

Filed under: Safety, Technology

A group of Senators have sent letters to the largest smartphone manufacturers demanding the removal of applications that alert drivers of DUI checkpoints. And Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that produces the Blackberry, was the first to comply.

The letter (available after the jump) sent by Senators Harry Reid, (D-NV), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Tom Udall (D-NM) landed in the inboxes of Scott Forstall, Apple's Senior VP of iPhone Software, as well as Eric Schmidt, current head of Google and a senior executive at RIM. And the reason behind the removal was clear.

Nearly a third of all vehicle fatalities in the U.S. involve a DUI or DWI, and several apps available through the Apple App Store, Android Market and RIM's AppWorld alerts users of upcoming checkpoints, be it through crowd-sourced or using a pre-programmed and constantly updating database. The biggest culprit, according to the Senators, is PhantomALERT, which touts itself as "the world's largest driver generated and verified database of speed traps, red light cameras, speed cameras, school zones, DUI checkpoints, dangerous intersections and more across North America."

Neither Apple or Google - the crew behind the open-source Android mobile OS - have responded at this time, but with RIM already pulling the plug, there's a good possibility - particularly given Apple's tight control of apps - that each company could follow suit.

While the rationale behind the proposed removal is obvious, inevitably the debate about how apps play into freedom of speech and the broad brush in which other apps - like Trapster - have been caught up in the mix means a quick resolution is far off.

[Source: Senator's offices, Detroit News, RIM]

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/23/senators-urge-phonemakers-to-ban-dui-checkpoint-apps-blackberry/

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