A group of school students have come up with an innovative idea to prevent the usage of mobile phones while driving.
The team of three students – M. Monisha, A. Harishma and V. Ethiraj, with the assistance of a teacher, has worked on a system which sets off an alarm if a driver receives a call or text message or makes a call while driving. The driver will have to turn off the ignition to stop it. The students developed the device in the aftermath of the recent accidents involving school vehicles in the State.
The circuit board that can be fixed to the steering wheel will have two ICs of which one absorbs a signal and another amplifies it and produces the sound.
“This system can be installed in public vehicles like school buses, autorickshaws and call taxis to prevent accidents. It was our idea. Ethiraj suggested that a device that produces noise like a siren be fixed in the vehicle. The system can be fixed in all vehicles and a separate light fitted outside will warn the police,” said Monisha and Harishma, students of Kaligi Ranganathan Montford Matric Higher Secondary School in Perambur.
Their teacher S. Alphonse said initially, they had designed the system so that the vehicle would automatically stop when the phone rings or a call is made. “But that might lead to accidents on highways, so we went for the second method,” he said.