Google announced today that has provided mapping (via the Google Maps API) for a couple of highway safety initiatives around the use of cell phones in vehicles.

The first such initiative is Oprah’s "No Phone Zone", which lets users make a pledge under three different options: no texting, no texting plus handsfree calling only, and no phone use at all while driving. These pledges are then mapped in near real-time using the API, so others can see where and when these pledges were made.

The Google Earth and Maps teams must have been on the verge of bursting into data stream rivers until they finally popped this morning, unloading a mess of new functionality onto the world. We had to mask our digital footprint with wading boots to fish out the most relevant to our readers: Google Maps for Enterprise.