Phoning while driving? Forget it, says ex-IIT Prof

Mobile phone companies and traffic authorities have been moving mountains to dissuade drivers from taking calls on the move, but it took an ...

Mobile phone companies and traffic authorities have been moving mountains to dissuade drivers from taking calls on the move, but it took an erratic former IITian to find a fix-all to end the small talk.

In 2001, when a ban and fine was first imposed on drivers talking on their phones while driving, ex-IIT Professor Yash Pal Singh8217;s son and nephew barely escaped with their lives. 8216;8216;They had a narrow escape in an accident involving someone using a cell phone. The incident made me think, 8216;Can8217;t something be done about this?8217;8217;8217; says the professor, who retired in the 1990s after 41 years in IIT Kharagpur.

After two years of R038;D at home, assisted by son and two friends, the 1937-born developed a device that blocks all but emergency calls on a car driver8217;s cell phone. 8216;8216;The phone will ring, but my invention will prevent the driver from answering it,8217;8217; says Prof Singh.

A conducting material under the drivers8217; seat passes a negligible electrical current over the driver8217;s skin surface. The moment he touches a mobile phone, all incoming calls are disconnected or disabled as long as the vehicle ignition is on. If the driver touches a phone in a running vehicle, it will switch itself into 8216;silent8217; or 8216;vibrating8217; mode.

Singh calls his invention 8216;Autoprofile8217; and all it needs to function is a chair: It can be fitted to museum, library, auto, theatre or auditorium seats for a dollar or more. 8216;8216;Autoprofile has a sliding switch that can easily be turned on in an emergency. An automatic SMS can be sent to the service provider or emergency numbers like 100,8217;8217; says Singh. But a driver must switch off ignition to dial or recieve regular calls.

Singh8217;s application for a patent for Autoprofile is pending, but he is, nevertheless, pleased. 8216;8216;I think this is the only device that allows passengers to use their phones and has no health hazards. The driver won8217;t even know there8217;s an electric current,8217;8217; he says.

But that doesn8217;t mean it8217;s all systems go for Singh. For one, Autoprofile requires changes in cellphone design that the manufacturers may not appreciate. 8216;8216;Auto companies8217; engineers are a conservative lot, so I8217;ve left their electricals alone. But mobile phone makers will have to adjust some software into their design. Without a legal safety requirement, the system may never be implemented,8217;8217; he says.

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Besides, cell jammers are big business. Ever since 21 countries imposed legal restrictions on their use, many may just be waiting for a killer app to make the bans succesful. And lastly, the Professor has competition: Sony8217;s cellphone jammer prevents calls in a particular area. A NEC Corp technology generates impulses that block calls in hospitals etc. And Japan8217;s Kokusai Denki KK has a device that picks up ignition noise and locks cellphone keyboards.