Is that call worth your life?

Severally, I have written on the use of phone infraction which has become common place among motorists under titles such as the ‘blackberry phobia,’‘the blackberry craze,’‘the last call,’‘that call can wait’ and today’s title, which like I said, was influenced by a recent text message sent to me by my friend and brother, Patrick, and […]

Severally, I have written on the use of phone infraction which has become common place among motorists under titles such as the ‘blackberry phobia,’‘the blackberry craze,’‘the last call,’‘that call can wait’ and today’s title, which like I said, was influenced by a recent text message sent to me by my friend and brother, Patrick, and the need to alert us as we draw nearer to the December rush, which is often characterised by increased violations, especially driving and phoning by motorists eager to meet both family and personal expectations.
Driving or phoning or better still, distracted driving, is a global concern. Despite the efforts in developed countries, there are still calls by some especially in countries such as the United States of America, for distracted driving to be a legislative priority, devoid of steps referred to by some observers as baby-steps. This group maintains that driving and phoning should demand tougher and stiffer penalties just like the case of driving under the influence of alcohol. They call for penalty points and license suspensions for chronic offenders, arguing that: “Anyone who spends time behind the wheels sees that today’s fines don’t deter drivers from talking or texting when they should be paying attention to traffic.”They add that it is not the physical act of holding a phone that creates the danger; it is the mental distraction of a conversation. This group maintains further that drivers do lots more than drive; they talk to passengers, fiddle with the radio or GPS, eat, drink or smoke. But these behaviors don’t match the uninterrupted distraction of a phone call. The multi-tasking of conversation — speaking, listening and responding — creates “inattention blindness” to the road.
Driving while using a hand-held device, whether talking or texting, hand-held or hands-free, should be outlawed. The dangers of distracted driving rival those of drunk-driving. So should the penalties. In the US, the National Transportation Safety Board recommends a ban on all phones while driving — talking or texting, hand-held or hands-free. Polls conducted by the Board showed 64 percent of Americans approved this position. Data sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that US drivers like their Nigerian counterparts are more than willing to use their mobile devices while behind the wheels, and most believe phone calls have no effect on their driving.
The data shows that 77 percent will answer calls while driving; 41 percent say they will make phone calls while 76 percent will say something to a driver texting or e-mailing. The data further shows that 54 percent say talking on a hand-held device makes no difference on their driving performance; 40 percent will say something about unsafe driving to a driver using a hand-held phone; 25 percent say texting makes no difference on their driving; 10 percent will read text messages while 6 percent say they will send a text. A study on Nigerian driving habits will be our focus at a later time.
What is texting while driving? According to Wikipedia, the online dictionary, texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, reading, texting messages, and email or making other similar use of web on the mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. This act is dangerous and has fatal consequences. The act has either been outlawed or restricted in some parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, the use of a hand-held mobile or similar device while driving or supervising a learner is illegal. This includes when stopped at traffic lights; the only exception is emergency calls. In the US states such as Arizona, Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana and Maryland, among others, texting while driving has been outlawed.
The state of Texas prohibits school bus drivers from texting while transporting a child under 17 years of age and on October 2009, the United StatesDepartment of Transportation announced President Barak Obama’s signing of an executive order directing federal employees not to engage in texting while driving government owned vehicles. This according to the department sends a clear signal to the American public that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable.
Texting while driving leads to increased distraction behind the wheels. In 2006, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group conducted a survey of more than 90 teens from than 26 high schools. The result shows that 37 percent consider texting to be “extremely” distracting. A study by the American Automobile Association discovered that 47 percent of teens admitted to being distracted behind the wheels because of texting. Distraction while driving is alarming because 40 percent of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in ways that put them in danger. Eleven percent of ages 18-20 who were involved in a crash and some admitted they sent or received text when they crashed.
In 2010 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported driver’s distraction was the course of 18 percent of fatal crashes with 3,092 people killed and 416,000 injured. The risk of crashing while texting, increases by 23 percent because reading or sending texts diverts the driver’s eye from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the same as driving the length of a football field, at 55 mph. Although talking on the phone while driving is considered dangerous, the risk increases as short message service or texting becomes popular.
Many studies have linked texting while driving to series of fatal crashes. The International Telecommunication Union states that texting, making calls and other interaction with in-vehicle information and communication systems while driving is a serious source of driver distraction and increases the risk of traffic crashes. The Virginia Transportation Institute found out that text messaging increases a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. Even the use of hands free according to the transport research laboratory, makes drivers four times more likely to have an accident, concentration level reduced for 10 minutes after the call had ended. The report also showed that drivers making hands-free calls had slower reaction times than those who were slightly over the drink limit.