New iPhone app gives commuters a crystal ball
By: Hayley Peterson
Examiner Staff
August 5, 2009
Makers of an iPhone traffic application are dodging text-weary lawmakers by refusing user input and simply taking it instead.
INRIX Traffic gathers traffic information from a network of more than one million GPS units nationwide to provide real-time maps alerting drivers of accidents, roadblocks, detours and most importantly, the current cruising speeds on nearby roads.
iPhone users become part of that network of GPS informants when they download the free app and log on, said INRIX President and Chief Executive Bryan Mistele.
"The application itself sends [INRIX] data -- it takes your speed anonymously," Mistele said. "That way, there is no texting or data entry required."
INRIX Traffic also has a knack for predicting traffic patterns 60 minutes ahead of time -- and with a 94 percent accuracy rate, Mistele said. Predictive maps take a number of variables into account such as weather conditions, days of the week, concerts, school schedules -- and in Washington, the legislative calendar -- to forecast the road ahead.
"There isn't anything else like this on the market," Mistele said.
Other apps that need users to compile traffic information -- like the popular red-light camera tracker, Trapster -- depend on those users for updates. Mistele said INRIX's method of beaming GPS information from the user's phone will keep drivers' hands off their phones.
But that might not be enough to keep the app off the texting-while-driving chopping block.
"It's a terrible application," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. "It shouldn't be used. It will lead to death and injuries on the highway."
He said Apple and INRIX are asking for lawsuits by providing a service "that can and will lead to crashes."
Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, advised INRIX Traffic users to "use common sense" and access the app only while pulled over or "at a break in some point."
"We have sort of lost common sense while we drive. We tend to do everything but focus on driving," he said. "Don't risk your life or someone else's just to check traffic."
