Life360 and Ford Partner to Reduce Texting and Driving

At Life360, keeping families safe and connected is our top priority, which is why we are so proud today, to announce a partnership with Ford that will help keep families safe behind the wheel. Together, our goal is to reduce the amount of texting while driving between family members with the introduction of a feature called ‘Drive Mode.’ This is a first of its kind implementation that alerts family members when someone is driving – letting them know it’s not safe to text.

The concept is simple: ‘Drive Mode’ identifies that a family member is driving when their Android phone automatically pairs, via Bluetooth, with Ford SYNC in the vehicle. There is no need to plug your phone into the USB or launch any app. As soon as that happens, the “Drive Mode” symbol will appear on the user’s avatar on the Life360 map. This way, any family member looking at their Life360 app will see that a loved one is driving. In addition, the driver can send a message with the simple push of button as soon as the car is turned on, letting everyone in their circle know that they are driving.

Texting and driving continues to be a significant problem, killing 11 teens each day according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It was responsible for almost one quarter of all crashes in the US last year according to the National Safety Council. With Drive Mode, Ford and Life360 bring awareness to families and help reduce the dangerous combination of texting and driving.

We hope this simple application can have powerful impact on the communication of family members and we’re proud that our technology can play a part in taking on such an important issue.

If you’re attending the 2015 International CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 6-9, please stop by the Life360 or Ford booths to check out a demo of the app. Drive Mode will be available first for Android phones in the second half of 2015.