Apple is partnering with carmakers to make the in-car driving/phone experience seemless, but that's not all they are doing. They're also trying to eliminate distracted driving, especially texting while driving.

To do this, Apple is coming up with a way to disable certain functions when a driver is detected as driving. It's called "Driver handheld computing device lock-out" and it received U.S. Patent No. 8,706,143.

Apple can use its own sensors to determine when a driver is driving. Or, it can receive blocking signals from a car to tell if someone is in the driver's seat.

If Apple chooses to try the method that requires no input from the car, it will have to rely on its own technologies for detection. Those technologies include GPS receivers, accelerometers, light sensors and other components.

This method is the more complicated of the two.

Motion sensors would have to detect how fast the car is going before disabling the phone. If it detects the user is not walking or running and indeed traveling inside a vehicle, it will then disable itself.

Another variable would rely on where the user is sitting. This would be solved with a camera and scenery analysis. The phone could detect the individual, see the steering wheel and then it would disable itself.

The scenery analysis would be accompanied by the accelerometer to prevent users from trying to trick the camera by pointing it at a passenger seat. The passenger seats are considered safe zones and the phone will be fully functional in those zones.

If Apple partners with carmakers and uses the blocking signals from the car, the car will communicate with the iPhone and create the block to the phone.

Either method, if successful, will lock-out text messaging, web browsing and other distracting behaviors that takes drivers' eyes off the road.

"Texting while driving has become a major concern of parents, law enforcement, and the general public," the patent said, citing a 2006 study that found 80 percent of auto accidents are caused by distracted driving. 

Right now, the Apple feature isn't set for rollout, but with pressure from concerned parents, it's something the company would like to see released soon. If Apple is serious about this technology, which has been in the works since 2008, they'll include it with the iOS 8 operating system.