Business

New Taser zaps car cellphones

Taser shares got a welcome jolt yesterday on new profit prospects from using its stun gun status to prevent distracted drivers from using cellphones behind the wheel.

The company said its bossy new product won’t actually zap drivers but instead would lock down cellphone signals of drivers when they improperly dial or text.

The smart device can be programmed to block all non-emergency texts or calling when a car is moving, but wouldn’t affect phones of passengers.

Shares jumped more than 2 percent to $3.84 after a year of being flat from slowed sales of its widely used stun guns.

The cellphone-blocking device, The Protector, also constantly tracks safe driving practices, locations and other emergency information on a vehicle’s status, and automatically dials a parent phone when unsafe driving is detected.

“Distracted driving is at epidemic proportions,” said Taser CEO Rick Smith, noting that 6,000 die annually in wrecks blamed on cellphone use.

Smith recently met with US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and road safety regulators in a bid to have the devices installed as options in new cars.

The device, shipped this month to retailers, sells for about $250 with a monthly subscription of about $7.

Smith also expects revived sales overall this year because more than 175,000 stun guns used in nearly 40 countries have burned out from long use, and will be reordered. About 16,000 law enforcement and government agencies use Tasers.