The tech giant wants your eyes on the road.

We’ve all felt the impulse to respond to an “urgent” text while driving, and research shows that distracted driving is a massive problem. Now Apple is releasing a “Do Not Disturb” driving mode in the fall in hopes of improving road safety.

The feature, which was announced during the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, will detect when you’re behind the wheel and give you the option of silencing notifications and sending auto replies to messages, allowing for uninterrupted and undistracted driving.

To give you a sense of just how widespread distracted driving is, consider a recent study showing that drivers use their phones during 88 percent of their journeys for around 3.5 minutes for every hour of driving. If that statistic isn’t alarming enough, other research found that 52 percent of car crashes studied were the result of phone-related distractions.

“It’s all about keeping your eyes on the road,” Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said at yesterday’s conference. “When you are driving you don’t need to be responding to these kind of messages.”

As we begin taking measures to distance ourselves from our phones when we’re on the road, it’s also worth considering bringing “Do Not Disturb” mode out of the car and into everyday life more often. It could make a big difference in your well-being.

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