Vail Christian High School is educating students about the dangers of texting while driving. Students hold the motion sensitive wheel in one hand, and a cell phone in the other. It’s unclear if they are required to drive as Toad, Mario, or anyone else. But were they sorry when they ended up getting hit by a turtle shell? Did they learn not to text while driving?

Apparently some did. One player said, “I ran into a lot of things and it was very stressful,” Which is interesting, because how stressful can texting and Mario Kart really be? Still, I’m sure it drives the point home to these kids.

There’s nothing worse then a driver who is too busy running their mouth on a cellphone and not paying attention to the road. Or the other cars. Teenage drivers in particular love to get distracted by their mobile phones. Well, University of Utah engineers have designed a wireless car key device that stops users from talking on their cell phone or sending text messages while behind the wheel.

Each driver of a car will have a separate key device. When the key is extended from the device, it emits a signal that puts the teenagers phone in “Driving Mode,” so that they can’t use it and kill you. In driving mode the phone will display a stop sign and hopefully the death loving teen will get in the habit of leaving the phone alone while driving.

The Honda Ecological Drive System (HDAS) will be included with the 2009 Honda Insight. It will alert drivers to their driving habits through a color coded speedometer. For instance if you’re going along at a grandmotherly yet fuel efficient speed, the speedometer goes green, indicating that you are a responsible and possibly elderly driver.

When you find yourself trying to outrun the fuzz at 90mph, the speedometer turns blue, indicating that you are most likely on COPS and should really slow down. Seems like red, yellow and green would have been better colors to use. It’s a great idea that should save many gallons of gas as well as keep you safe from yourself.

I don’t know about you, but I try to be respectful of other drivers. Even nice. A wave of the hand now and then is just a nice gesture. Then there are those times when flipping some idiot the bird is totally appropriate too. It might be nice to have a hand that will do all the talking for you, so you can concentrate on the driving.

“The Hand” sign for the back of your vehicle can be used to tell someone that “they rock” or flip them off, even give them a peace sign, plus a few others. I would say just use it liberally for both good and evil. Have fun. Just make sure you actually look first as a police officer won’t take kindly to your new toy. The 9″x6″ remote controlled sign will cost about $40.

Meet the new arcade driving cabinet named Octane 120, from Dream Arcades. It comes with a built-in keg-o-rator, the beer tap placed conveniently on the dash next to the steering wheel. Yeah, that’s a great driving habit to cultivate. That way when you get into a real car, you’ll be good and ready to drunk drive, your skills having been honed to perfection. Seriously, most of us aren’t that stupid, but there is that 1% out there that somehow haven’t been purged from society from eating lead paint and the like.

This thing is great for video game parties and would be the center of attention. Your game throne if you will. You get a 120-inch projection screen, a home theater PC with 12 racing games pre-loaded, a PS3-compatible steering wheel if you want to hook one up, and a 5.1 surround system all for $7,000.

So are you the type to pick up a call while driving or let your voicemail handle it? Chances are you take the call, but the truth is that driving while distracted is becoming more of a problem lately. People are dying. That’s why Canadian software company Aegis Mobility has developed software to help.

It’s called DriveAssist and the basically the software detects whether or not you’re driving and if you are, it will hold your calls, telling the person on the other end that you’re behind the wheel. It has an emergency feature built in. In an emergency the caller can enter an override and reach you. As a passenger you can also use the phone. But will people actually go for this, being so addicted to their devices?

Finding new ways to cut down on your gas bill isn’t easy. Sure, you can keep the tires inflated and not have extra weight in your trunk, but there’s got to be more that you can do, right? Just get the PLX Kiwi. It keeps an eye on your driving habits and lets you know what you need to alter to increase your gas mileage. That’s right, it becomes a nagging backseat driver telling you everything that you are doing wrong. In that way, it’s kinda like picking up your mother-in-law from the airport.

The Kiwi will examine smoothness, drag, acceleration and deceleration. Then it gives you a full report. According to the company it will give you an average fuel savings of 20% which could save you anywhere from $500-$1000 per year. You can get it later this month for $299. But what if it tells you there’s not a damn thing you can do to get better mileage? Some of these vehicles are doing about all they can do.

Many of us do not get the proper amount of sleep. That can be dangerous when you’re behind the wheel of a several ton killing machine. The last thing that you want to do is nod off and wake up in a hospital only to find out that you’ve ushered some other poor souls into the great beyond. Or worse never wake up again.

This little gadget sits on your ear and when your head tilts forward more than 30 degrees, a high pitched alarm will sound in your ear. It’s also great for all night gamers. You wouldn’t want to nod off in the middle of a crucial level. It will cost you $14.99 and could save your life. Probably best to get more sleep, though.

GPS navigation systems are a dime a dozen, but this one can tell whether you’re drunk or not. One thing. If you need this to tell you when you’ve had too much to drink, you obviously drink way too much. The G400 GPS navigation system features an integrated alcohol sensor on the side and it can tell how much alcohol per liter is in your blood.

If vehicle manufacturers are able to make use of this GPS navigation system in the future, and stop the vehicle from starting with a drunk driver at the wheel, this could save many lives. The G400 should be available in the U.S. very soon, right now it’s available in Portugal.

[NaviGadget] VIA [Crave]