New iPhone App Encourages Safe Driving, Vehicle Choices

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released an app that helps drivers use safety equipment more effectively and report defects or other safety concerns directly to the agency, according to the New York Daily News.

The app, called SaferCar, is available for iOS-based devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch via Apple’s app store.  It’s free to download and use, and it provides access to many of the same services available at the NHTSA’s website, safercar.gov.

Users of the SaferCar app can carry out a number of tasks related to safer driving, including:

• receiving real-time updates about vehicle recalls and reading reviews and other safety-related information,
• reporting safety issues to the NHTSA, including the ability to scan a vehicle’s individual VIN barcode,
• comparing crash test ratings and other safety information among different vehicle makes, models, and years when buying, leasing, or renting, and
• learning to use safety equipment, like child seats, correctly and identifying local sources of help for installing and using these types of equipment.

Developers of the SaferCar app say that an Android-based version is in the works and should be available to users later this year.

As a smartphone app that promotes vehicle safety, the SaferCar app opens with the advice “Do not text and drive!” – the same advice any experienced Kentucky car accident attorney would give app users. The smartest choice you can make while using the SaferCar app is to use it only when you’re not actually driving.