No place on our roads for distracted drivers
ISAW it driving into the office today and, chances are, you did too on your daily commute: someone on their mobile phone while driving.
While it’s not as frowned upon as driving under the influence, a United States survey found 55% of those surveyed said they believed the biggest issue in road safety was distracted driving.
Also contrary to popular belief, Generation X drivers are more likely to use their phone while driving than millennials.
Diverted attention on the roads is obviously not just an issue in the US. New Zealand figures show that up to 2900 tickets are issued each month to drivers using mobile devices while driving.
If that’s not scary enough, Ministry of Transport research shows that drivers engaged in texting are 23times more likely to be involved in a crash than those focused on the road. The ministry’s data also shows that for every 100 drivers or riders killed in road crashes where diverted attention was a contributing factor, 85 passengers and another 100 road users also lost their lives.
Distracted driving is a contributing factor in around 8% of fatal crashes here.
But our transtasman cousins may have a solution.
Sydney has recently installed a hitech camera network capable of catching drivers using their phones in all weather conditions following a trial in October in which 11,000 drivers were photographed on their phone while driving.
Don’t get me wrong, I dislike speed cameras as much as the rest of us, but we need to embrace technology to help prevent the needless loss of life and make our roads safer for all users.