There’s no question that a good proportion of road accidents nowadays are caused because the driver is distracted by their mobile phone. Both texting and/or making a phone call with one hand can really take your attention away from the road, and in fact according to a BBC report in 2002, researchers found that talking on a mobile phone can actually be more dangerous than drink-driving.

These kinds of statistics mean that a product like the Scosche cellCONTROL box, while sounding pretty draconian, could save lives if it stopped youngsters and new drivers from the temptations of talking or texting while driving. The product works by plugging into the OBD-II interface on all modern cars (usually under the steering wheel area) and once installed it uses a Bluetooth connection to disable texting, calls, email and other phone distractions while the car is moving.

If the system detects a hands-free unit it switches off and allows normal phone functions, and the music library on your phone remains active in all circumstances, so you can still listen to your favourite sounds. Priced at $129.95 and the system is compatible with over 1200 handsets and Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile operating systems.