April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, highlighting the urgent need for solutions to the leading cause of vehicle injuries and fatalities. A new company is tackling this technology epidemic head on.

The messageLOUD app is designed to significantly reduce distracted driving in work vehicles and machines by automatically reading all incoming email and messages out loud, including popular apps such as text/SMS, WhatsApp, Gmail, Slack, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger. The automated reading of incoming messages reduces physical interaction with phones, allowing drivers/operators to keep their eyes on the road and/or jobsite, according to the company.

“Distracted driving costs the economy $129 billion a year and causes more than 70% of commercial vehicle crashes — along with the resulting downtime, lost revenue, liability, and expense for businesses that rely on a mobile workforce,” said Garin Toren, CEO of messageLOUD. “Our app eliminates the need for drivers and equipment operators to physically touch or interact with smartphones in situations where it is unsafe, inconvenient or illegal.”

The messageLOUD app is available in the Google Play Store for Android devices. The iPhone app is available for corporate clients and fleets, and will be launched to the public soon. Subscriptions start as low as $1.99/month or $12.99/year per individual consumer, with additional discounts and plans available for fleet deployments. 

The app takes only a few minutes to set up, is easy to use, and automatically connects to the vehicle’s audio system via Bluetooth. messageLOUD’s patented technology delivers more than 90 percent greater functionality than other competitive apps/services — including the ability to read messages in 28 languages, operate seamlessly with navigation and music streaming services, and filter which messages are read aloud.

Users can download the app for free, and for a limited time try messageLOUD at no cost with a 14-day free trial.