Here we go again—despite all the media and safety officers’ attention on distracted driving, reinforced with police action, the use of a mobile phone behind the wheel is still an issue.
According to a recent poll commissioned in the UK by a legal firm, Simpson Millar LLP—the results of which were published 16th February in Fleet News—89% of GB adults recognise that there is some sort of penalty for using a mobile phone at the wheel, but just under half (47%) know the current penalty. 18% of motorists who have used social media at the wheel agree that they can check or update social media and drive safely at the same time. 46% of them believe that accessing social media does not cause a problem if they are stationary in traffic. 8% of all GB adults actually admit to using social media behind the wheel and 26% of those admit that the desire to keep in touch with people is one of the main reasons they have flouted the law.
Distracted driving, mainly caused by the use of a mobile phone or even a tablet behind the wheel, is one of the riskiest behaviours behind the wheel, leading to 10-30% of road accidents in the EU. It is, indeed, cause for concern that people seem to value social connectivity over and above their own and other's safety. Education, enforcement and sensitization, therefore, are much needed. Instead of connectivity, the focus should be on the social unacceptability of distracting oneself behind the wheel.
The RSA has released a campaign called “The anatomy of a split second” on the dangers of using a handeheld mobile phone while driving or updating social media behind the wheel—emphasising the point that even a second’s distraction can be lethal:
Think! is responsible for the UK government’s road safety campaigns. In order to sensitize people to the problem of driver distraction, they set up an interactive test you can take online at http://think.direct.gov.uk/drivingchallenge/. The results can be very surprising!
Brake is a road safety charity we support, active in a number of campaigns. The one concentrating on the misuse of phones is called “Drive smart”. Here is one of the disturbing images from of an older campaign, "Don't text and drive". You may notice the age of the campaign by the text images used, but the general point is still valid.
We remind every driver to avoid the use of mobile phones behind the wheel.