Harebrained Idea #3: ‘I’m busy’ Voice Mail

People talking on their cell phones while driving are worse drivers than those who are drunk. I’ve seen people walk into lamp posts while walking down the street, talking on their phone. I’ve been on my way to meet someone when I’ve received a call that I know requires my attention, attention I can’t spare at that moment. All I can do is fumble the phone to tell them I can’t talk or wait while it rings or buzzes to exhaustion or voice mail.

Why aren’t cell phone designed to do a better job with this situation?

I propose a button on the cell phone that interrupts the incoming call and routes it to a custom voice mail message saying something like: ‘Sorry I can’t take your call right now. I’m doing something that requires my full attention. I’ll call you back soon.” The person calling realizes that you have seen their call and routed it to a message. You get to pay attention to your driving and not act worse than drunk. Those around you like it too. Win x3.

Make sense?