Corporate Responsibility

Motorola recognizes that distracted driving is a significant public concern. We aim to educate drivers about responsible mobile technology use and to reinforce the key principle that people using mobile phones in vehicles must make safety their first priority. We provide products and features on our phones to help drivers comply with the law and drive responsibly.

Education and awareness
Motorola supports consumer education on responsible driving, and we work with several groups, including the CTIA — the Wireless Association (the international association for the wireless telcommunications industry), the American Automobile Association (AAA) and Safe America to provide responsible driving information to consumers.

We provide advice online, and our mobile phone manuals contain tips for driving responsibly. The American Automobile Association and Motorola offer parents a guide to help teenagers understand and avoid distraction (2 page PDF; 375 KB).

Features that help responsible driving
Our mobile phones can be operated hands-free through a speakerphone function or by connecting to a headset. Other features include one-touch dialing, automatic answer, voice dialing and caller ID. These features help drivers keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.

For drivers who prefer more integrated hands-free systems, we offer:

• Hands-free kits that can be professionally installed in most vehicles.
• Highly-integrated systems for certain automobile manufacturers. This allows the phone to be integrated into the vehicle's audio system and controlled using buttons on the steering wheel or through voice commands.

Even with hands-free devices, drivers still need to exercise good judgment talking on their phones.

Legislation
In many countries, it is illegal to drive while using a hand-held mobile phone. The most common requirement is that all calls must be hands free.

The dangers of texting while driving are self-evident. Motorola, along with other members of the CTIA — the Wireless Association, supports laws that completely ban texting while driving.

We support thoughtful legislation that is based on evidence of the causes of distracted driving. This legislation should emphasize the importance of driver education and provide strict penalties when distracted driving directly leads to an accident. We believe that any hands-free requirements should have exceptions for emergency situations.

We periodically engage with policymakers to help inform legislation on responsible driving. For example, in 2008 we testified to the Chicago task force on distracted driving, which investigated ways to address the dangers of distracted driving.