Driver distraction disabling via gesture recognition

A method for preventing driving distraction, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) a mobile device determining a traveling speed of a vehicle in which the mobile device is located;
• b) the mobile device detecting at least one driver indication;
• and
• c) the mobile device automatically and selectively disabling at least one predefined feature of the mobile device when the traveling speed exceeds a predefined threshold level and the driver indication is detected.

A mobile device for preventing distracted driving comprising:

• a) a motion detector configured to determine whether a traveling speed of a vehicle in which the mobile device is located exceeds a predefined threshold level;
• b) a user interaction analyzer configured to detect at least one driver indication by the group consisting of:
• 1) determining whether a user gesture matches at least one predefined driving gesture based on at least one picture of a user automatically taken by a camera,
• 2) determining whether an orientation of the mobile device falls into a predefined range of orientations of a driver's mobile device, and
• 3) combinations thereof;
• and
• c) a lock-out mechanism configured to automatically and selectively disable the at least one predefined feature of the mobile device based on outputs of the motion detector and the user interaction analyzer.