Student gives name to safe driving device

Mike Sievers :: News Reporter

A student at New Mexico State University has named a device that will allow parents to monitor their childrens’ driving habits. Will Ash, a sophomore studying international business management, was awarded $100 for naming “Steer Clear,” a device that records the distance a young driver travels and enables parents to prevent dangerous driving. “The idea behind it was for people to just focus on the road,” Ash said.

Steer Clear allows parents to program certain warnings for risky driving behavior, such as buzzing noises and voice warnings, according to a March 16 article in the Round Up. Ash also came up with a slogan for the device: “A kid’s focus can get blurred; help them steer clear.”

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among people between the ages of four and 34 in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Web site. Steer Clear was developed by the company PaceIgnitions, with help from market research conducted by the NMSU Arrowhead Center. “It’s a teaching and learning device, not an ‘I don’t trust my child’ device,” said NMSU student Madeline Gillette, a research assistant at the Arrowhead Center.

Gillette said the company wanted a name that sounded positive.“[The name] was interesting,” Gillette said. “Others sounded too authoritarian.” Gillette said the naming competition was open to all students, and five people entered. “We sent [an e-mail] to the business students; they were the ones who mostly knew about it,” Gillette said. “We were trying to come up with a name ourselves,” Gillette said.She said many of the names they came up with were either bad or already being used.

Ash said the idea for the name popped into his head “almost instantly.” “I didn’t really expect it to get picked,” Ash said.

Gillette said Steer Clear should be on the market in a little more than six months. PaceIgnitions now has to go through the process of trademarking the name.

“As far as I know, PaceIgnitions is already working on the trademark and funding for it as well,” Ash said. Ash said naming the device was simply the last step in designing it. “It was definitely worth the hundred bucks,” Ash said. Upon graduation, Ash said he hopes to move to Denver and take a job in upper management. In the meantime, he has a little extra spending money. “I spent some of it already — I’m a college student, I’ve got bills to pay,” Ash said.