Top 20 team in the 2018 High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge at the University of Utah. lassonde.utah.edu/hsuec

1. Discount Driver
Discount Driver aims to reduce the number of distracted driver accidents through offering discounts to local stores for drivers who don’t use their
phone while driving. The app utilizes a points system to keep track of time spent driving responsibly. Discount Driver is an inexpensive way to ad-
vertise and help the community. Discount Driver is great for the community, great for businesses, easy to scale, and could be developed today.
The Problem: Distracted Driving
While many people understand that using their phone is dangerous while driving, many fail to realize the
extent to which they’re endangering themselves and others. Around 330,000 people are injured from
drivers using cell phones per year. Distracted driving causes 175 billion in damages per year, and is the
cause of 25% of accidents. Cellphone use while driving
is under reported, as many people don’t report if they
were using their phone at the time of an accident and
police require a warrant to check.
Recent research shows that cellphone use reduces
driving ability to that of a drunk driver. One reason for this is the time a drivers eyes are taken off
the road. It takes the average person 4.6 seconds to
check their phone, which is like driving blind for longer
then the length of a football field at highway speeds.
Phone use, even when the car is stopped, increases the
chance of accidents.
This issue is incredibly wide spread. I surveyed 158 people on their phone use, and about 85% admitted
to using their phone’s while driving. It was especially common among younger people. Social stigmas
surrounding phone use isn’t uniform, and the true information about the dangers of texting and driving
aren’t well known. Discount Driver aims to spread awareness of this issue, as well as help fix it through
rewarding drivers who don’t use their phones.
“Texting while driving is…
essentially playing with
other people’s lives” -L.
Cole Peterson, Lehi Police
Department
The Solution: User Side
Discount Driver is an innovative solution that rewards drivers for not using their phone. The aim is to provide a motivator against phone use.
Based on my survey, the average driver isn’t too attached to using their phone; it is only that there is no reason for them not to. With Discount
Driver, users have strong motivation to put down Facebook and focus on the road. Additionally, Discount
Driver is able to mute incoming calls and messages, as well as automati-
cally text responses with included ETA times, without the driver ever
having to take their eyes off the road.
Coupons are undoubtedly a motivator for consumers. 90% of people
report using coupons, and coupons have convinced the majority of
people to try a new brand. According to our survey, the vast majority
of drivers would be willing to use Discount Driver and believe that it
would change their driving habits.
Discount Driver is easy for the user. A driver simply has to open the app,
lock their phone, and open it once their trip is over to earn points that are redeemably for discounts. It is easy
on the battery because it doesn't constantly monitor the GPS, and never stores the data after the trip is
computed. Discount Driver will have the option to automatically start once someone starts driving (potentially a battery drain), or, for a small fee,
NFC sensors can be placed in a persons car for super easy drop and drive functionality.
When applied to insurance, Discount Driver offers security that is unapparelled in the usage based insurance field thanks to the small amount of
data it stores and provides to insurance companies. Additionally, thanks to Discount Drivers being a third party mediator that also rewards drivers
who participate more then simply lowering their premiums, many more users are likely to be interested.
• 90% of consumers
use coupons
• 81% look for dinning
deals on a regular
basis
• Over half of
consumers use a
coupon in 25% or
more of purchases
The Solution: Business Side
Discount Driver is a great way for local businesses to advertise to a broad range of consumers, while simultaneously helping the community.
Unlike other forms of print or electronic advertising, Discount Drivers only charges for customers who are brought into the store through the app.
If the app doesn’t bring in customers, it is completely free.
Participating businesses will be the center focus for the app’s users. For a user to spend their points, they must visit a participating location. All
participating stores will be listed, as well the discounts they offer, logo, location, store hours, and contact information. By participating in the app,
stores will be able to directly advertise to a large audience. Each store will have complete control over which deals to offer, the cost of the deal (in
Driver Points), and the number offered per week, which will be handled through a separate app and website for store owners. Additionally, store
owners can track weekly spending on Discount Driver, and set limits based on their advertising budget.
While working on Discount Driver, I walked into over 50 local businesses, called 20, and emailed 30 more to no response. After working through
my contacts, however, I was able to contact or meet with the owners of many stores, from Publik Coffee, to Enso Piercing. With their help,
Discount Driver was redesigned to be business friendly.
Four different local stores are very interested in participating; Beehive Sports and Social Club, Great Salt Lake Clothing Company, West High
Panther Shop, and Millcreek Coffee Roasters. In addition, I am currently in contact with over fifteen other local businesses and stores.

2. How it Works: Nitty-Gritty
Discount Driver has been designed from code upwards to reduce battery drain, and is completely
based on technology that exists today. To start a drive, the user would either tap their phone to a
NFC sensor attached anywhere in their car, or open the app and press start. Alternatively, the app
could be set to automatically detect driving and require no user input to start, though that would
increase battery drain. After starting, the app would record time and location.
Once the user unlocks the phone, signaling the end of their drive, the phone would once again
record current location and time. Discount Driver app would then input the starting and ending lo-
cations into a google maps API, or Application program interface, which would output the time re-
quired to go between the ending and starting positions.
Discount Driver would compare this to the time it took the user. If the times are very different, for
example if the user jogged instead of drove, then the app would award no points. This is done not
to reducing jogging, but rather to prevent users from abusing the app. If determined to be realis-
tic, then the app checks the user’s position 3 minutes after closing.
If the phone has continued at driving pace, the user receives no points. This is done to prevent us-
ers from receiving points from the first part of the journey and still using their phone during the
second part. In conjunction with this, users cannot start a drive for 3 minutes after finishing their
last one. If the user gets through all these checks, then they receive one point per minute of drive
time, as determined by the google maps API, not their own drive time.
Prototype
Main Page: users can
start their drive, toggle
automatic mute, set rules
for automatic replies, and
check total point count.
Menu: Rewards page, so-
cial challenges, about, in-
surance, and main page
are all navigable from
here.
Rewards Page: users can
view participating loca-
tions, a map of all partici-
pating stores, and a
menu with their favorites
Store Page: users can
choose out discounts,
view store location,
hours, logo, and contact
information, as well as
quickly navigate to them
Redeem Page: After click-
ing a deal, users can
choose to redeem or
cancel
Target User and Budget
All drivers under fifty in the state of Utah are target users. We are targeting those under fifty because they have a higher chance of using their phone while
driving, and also a higher chance of accepting and using new technology. We are aimed at Utah drivers be-
cause in order for the app to work there must be stores offering discounts,
and we are hoping to develop in Utah before expanding into other states.
There are 1.1 million licensed drivers under 50 in Utah.
We hope to capture 0.5% of all target users. Based on the average time
Americans spend behind the wheel, this would generate a revenue of ap-
proximately $31,000. After an initial $6,000 development fee, as well as 15%
federal tax and 5% Utah tax, we would be left with $18,500. This would be split between marketing and
profit. Discount Driver is able to avoid the standard 30% tax charged by Google Play and iOS by bringing in
revenue from stores, not consumers. Profit and revenue are expected to grow as more people and stores
use Discount Driver, and development costs change to being update costs.
There are 1.1
million Utah
drivers under 50Revenue:
$30,782
Insurance & Expansion
Discount Driver will grow as more businesses use the program to advertise, and more users join. This growth will be accelerated thanks to the social media
aspects that are built into the app
A major area for growth is into insurance. While car usage trackers have existed since the 90’s, they’ve never been popular, largely because a gap of trust
between the company and its customers. After talking to three insurance agents, I learned that agents aren’t incentivized to push trackers onto their cli-
ents and many customers are apprehensive about their privacy. This creates a perfect situation for discount driver to step in, as it acts as a third party to
mediate between company and customer, and customers are more likely to use Discount Driver because of the rewards. Additionally, through insurance
installed NFC sensors, Discount Driver has the unique advantage over all other programs of being able to track phone usage in cars to a high degree of
accuracy. An insurance agent can install an NFC sensor, that senses the proximity of the phone, or a Lightning cable, into the glove compartment. Through
a cloud based system that involves all members of a household, Discount Driver could determine the frequency of phone use for each car, and report that
to an insurance company.
Special Thanks To:
Stacey Maxwell at Millcreek Coffee · Scott at Tea Zaanti · Dave Marquardt at Beehive Sports · Missy Greis at Publik Coffee · Mike Matheson
at West High · Jeremy Chatterton at West High · Tara at ENSO Piercing + Adornment · Cole Peterson at Lehi Police Department · Pavel As-
parouhov · Leslie Seggar at Tulie Bakery · Mom and Dad · Charlie Buckner at State Farm · Rosalie Philips · Lisa Marie Eshleman at Allstate