'Cellcontrol' blocks cell phone use while driving

Inspiration struck Sean Brown after a car almost did.

He was sitting in traffic in front of Northeast High School and a teenager on his cell phone nearly rear-ended him.

So he decided to observe the drivers leaving the Pasadena high school.

"Eleven cars came out and nine of (the drivers) were on their cell phone," he said. "That's got to be controlled."

The Curtis Bay resident figured there had to be a device that could prevent cell phones from being used in moving cars without impeding normal operations. Brown called up his previous boss, who has been involved in new technology startups before, to pitch the idea.

Thusly, cellcontrol was born.

"We're addressing a serious issue," said Rob Guba, one of the co-founders of cellcontrol. "Sean definitely saw the market and we all kind of worked together to come up with the concept."

The time is right for cell-phone restrictions. Maryland recently banned texting while driving, and the subject of a ban on cell-phone use while driving may come before the General Assembly again this year.

Brown and his partners also point to a July Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study that found drivers are 1.3 times more likely as nondistracted drivers to get in a crash or a near crash event while talking on their cell phone. Dialing a cell phone makes them 2.8 times more likely.

"You drive down the street and as you look to the right or to the left, people are constantly on their phones," Guba said.

With the help of a third partner, Don Powers, the company came up with a device that can be hooked up to a car's onboard diagnostics system, blocking cell-phone operations when a car is in motion. The company opened headquarters in Baton Rouge, La., where Powers and Guba are based. The company employs five people in addition to the founders.

Account holders have the option of blocking calls, texts and e-mails and can differentiate between incoming and outgoing calls. An automatic message of their choice pops up when the driver attempts to use their phone. Everything is controlled online and changes are automatically downloaded.

Brown came up with the idea about a year ago, and the first devices hit the market in April. The company already has about 20 clients, with about 75 devices deployed.

"The idea is to keep it simple," Brown said, adding that dialing 911 always works. But what if the device is removed?

"Seventeen- and 16-year-olds are prettysharp and you need to make sure you can enforce it," Brown said.

The account holder receives texts or e-mails when the cellcontrol device is removed. It can even log speed.

The technology is only available for Blackberry phones right now, but the company is doing tests for other platforms with the hope of offering a product for every phone in the future. Rates are different depending on how many phones are in the account and the length of the contract.

Initially, Guba and Brown thought the market would be parents of teenage drivers. But they've realized that there is a bigger market in companies with fleets of vehicles.

"Companies have these strict policies and there's nothing they can do about it," Brown said. "This gives them the ability to limit employees' ability to use their phones."

The cellcontrol options offer ways to make sure the right calls can be received and placed, so employees aren't completely cut off from customers. Allowed numbers can be entered into the online database so that companies who deliver can keep in contact with customers on the road.

"I think companies are looking at it from a couple of angles; employee health, liability side and downtime," Guba said.

Brown said it's saving some companies on insurance premiums. He said he hopes the company will develop relationships with insurance and cell phone companies in the future.

"Hopefully, we're helping people save money and saving lives at the same time," Brown said.