Drivers paying heavy toll for phone fixation

DRIVER distraction is the fastest growing killer on Queensland roads.

So why are a disturbing number of drivers using their phones behind the wheel.

Queensland road safety expert Professor Barry Watson said the answer was simple: “People drive like they live”.

“The whole issue around distracted driving is really this intrusion of people’s general behaviour into the road safety setting,” Prof Watson, from the Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety, said.

“The prevalence of smartphone use is just so great now, it’s not a surprise that it flows into people’s driving where unfortunately it’s a major distraction.”

According to the Department of Transport and Main Roads and Queensland Police, an alarming 76 per cent of road users freely admit to using their phone illegally.

In a federal government submission, TMR said distraction-related road deaths were the fastest growing category among the “fatal five”.

From 2007 to 2017, distracted driving caused 341 fatalities, more than 10 per cent of all road deaths in Queensland. The real figure is likely higher.

Monash University’s Accident Research Centre estimates that distraction causes about 16 per cent of fatal crashes in Australia.

Their research released last month, from the Australian Naturalistic Driving Study, provides chilling insights.

It found drivers were distracted every 96 seconds by something other than the road in front of them. Furthermore, just 5 per cent of drivers focused for the entire journey.

While phone use only accounted for 7 per cent of distraction, texting was found to increase crash risk by six times.