Parents feel that smartphones are both friend and foe in the hands of teenage drivers

According to a recent consumer survey* commissioned by Smith Micro Software, 70% of parents believe that smartphones put their children’s generation at more risk for distracted driving-related accidents. Four in ten parents stated that their teen driver has been involved in a distracted driving-related accident and 63% believe their teen is more likely to get into an accident caused by distracted driving when they’re driving or riding with their friends.

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“Texting, using an app, or making a phone call while driving can have devastating consequences for anyone, but when combined with a teen’s inexperience behind the wheel, it can be the perfect combination for being involved in or causing an accident because of distracted driving,” said William W. Smith, Jr., President and CEO of Smith Micro. “We developed SafePath^® Drive to provide wireless carriers with a turnkey solution to help their customers address the pervasive problem of distracted driving caused by smartphones.”

When asked to select the most dangerous distracted driving behavior for their teen driver(s), more than one in five parents (21%) cited smartphone use, 16% voted for talking on the phone, 13% of parents selected driving with friends in the car, while texting was also cited by 13% as most dangerous.

Interestingly, the majority of parents surveyed also believe that smartphones could be part of the solution when it comes to teen driver safety. Almost six in ten parents (57%) said they have or would consider using a mobile app to monitor, detect, and report on their teen’s dangerous driving behavior, while nearly seven in ten (69%) said that a mobile app with this functionality would be helpful in teaching their teen safer driving habits.

“Family safety is more than just people. It’s all the connected devices that are part of the family digital lifestyle, which now includes the family car,” Smith explained. “The results of this survey prove that the utility and value of driver safety monitoring technology resonates with parents of teen drivers, which is exactly the reason we enhanced the functionality of our SafePath platform to help our carrier customers capitalize on this demand.”

Launched in November 2020, SafePath Drive is a white-label mobile app that utilizes the sensors embedded on smartphones to detect, track, and report upon dangerous driving behaviors such as speeding, hard cornering/braking, and risky smartphone use. Watch this short video to learn more.

A research brief containing additional key survey findings as well as demographic splits based on age, gender and U.S. region is available for download here.

* The survey was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Smith Micro Software. See below for the methodology.

Survey Methodology

This random double-opt-in survey was conducted by OnePoll – a market research company and corporate member of both the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR) – and adheres to the Marketing Research Society (MRS) code of conduct. The survey was conducted online within the United States from April 20 – 27, 2021. The sample consisted of 2,005 American drivers who are parents of teenagers. For more information about OnePoll’s research in the media, navigate to their portfolio here.

About SafePath Drive

SafePath Drive is an add-on solution for SafePath Family, Smith Micro’s family safety application that provides location services, parental controls and device security functionality. Like all other SafePath product modules, SafePath Drive is a white-label solution designed to be deployed by wireless carriers under their own brand.

About Smith Micro Software, Inc.

Smith Micro develops software to simplify and enhance the mobile experience, providing solutions to some of the leading wireless service providers and cable MSOs around the world. From enabling the family digital lifestyle to providing powerful voice messaging capabilities, our solutions enrich today’s connected lifestyles while creating new opportunities to engage consumers via smartphones and consumer IoT devices. The Smith Micro portfolio also includes a wide range of products for creating, sharing and monetizing rich content, such as visual voice messaging, optimizing retail content display and performing analytics on any product set. For more information, visit smithmicro.com.

SafePath, Smith Micro, and the Smith Micro logo are registered trademarks of Smith Micro Software, Inc. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements regarding future events or results, including statements related to the benefits that we believe our products will offer to our customers, and statements using such words as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “intend,” “could,” “will” and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Among the important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are changes resulting from or relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including changes in consumer behavior, changes in our customers’ retail store operations and/or changes in health and safety recommendations and requirements, changes in customer or platform requirements and limitations on our ability to compete effectively with other software and technology companies. These and other factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made on the basis of the views and assumptions of management, and we do not undertake any obligation to update these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.

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