As of January 1st, California has joined others states in outlawing texting while driving. The Golden State already required drivers to use hands-free devices while talking and driving.

While I have mixed feelings about the rules against holding a cell phone in your hand while driving (I have a feeling that the distraction is a bigger danger than holding the phone), it seems pretty obvious that texting is a no-no for anyone operating a vehicle or other complicated piece of machinery.

Texting while driving could be a disaster. Not only does it take your mind off the road but your hands and eyes too. But what seems obvious to me might not be so obvious to some teenage drivers. The Albuquerque Tribune reports that a survey from AAA found that 46% of teens send text messages while behind the wheel.

But now there's a product that can stop teens -- at least  those teens who are using phones equipped with Google's new Android smart phone operating system. Texecution is an Android program that prevents texting while traveling at more than ten miles per hour. Of course, a teen might want to use his or her phone from a passenger seat on a car, bus or train. That's why a parental override function lets teen request permission from the administrator (i.e., parent) to allow texting even when in motion.

The product is currently only available for the Android platform and Android only runs on one phone -- the T-Mobile G1 -- but Google is working with other handset makers and carriers and we should see more Android phones soon. In the meantime, the folks behind Texecution are working to program the product for other phones -- though hopefully they're not doing any of that programming while driving!