Careless talk costs lives
Fines to deter mobile phone users endangering themselves and others
Careless use of mobile phones has become a serious hazard with two lives lost this week due to persons distracted by their phones being knocked down by trains.
Nineteen-year-old Thangavelu Kalaiselvi, who died after being knocked down by a train at Wellawatte, was a resident of Lulkadura (Loolecondera) in Deltota.
The victim’s fiancé told police that she was knocked down at around 8 a.m by a Colombo bound train coming from Matara. She was on a call when crossing the tracks. He had seen the train and screamed to alert her about the approaching train but it was to no avail.
She was seriously injured and died while receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Colombo National Hospital.
Another such victim was a resident of Vavuniya. Twenty-three-yearold Puneswaran Dhanushan was killed early this week in Paranthan, Kilinochchi when he was walking along the railway tracks fully absorbed in a telephone conversation and did not hear the sound of a train approaching, an official of Kilinochchi station said.
City Coroner M .Ashroff Rumy said that there had been four train-related deaths reported this year, where all four victims were on the phone or wearing headsets and trying to cross the railway tracks.
It has become trendy to wear noise-cancelling boom boxes over one’s head while walking and driving — blasting music at volumes that push boundaries of the human ear, experts say.
There is a growing belief that to remain connected, people must always be on the mobile phone or any other technological device that aids communication. This is a myth and continuous use of the cell phone can lead to addiction.
The law banning the use of mobile phones while driving has been in place for over a decade now but we are still seeing thousands of people each year flouting the law and endangering not only themselves but other road users as well.
A study by the University of Peradeniya in 2014 revealed that mobile phone related activities include texting 66 per cent, talking on the phone 57 per cent, browsing Facebook 23 per cent, sending messages 18 per cent, checking e-mails 13 per cent and taking selfies 3 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, more than twothirds (69 per cent) of those aged 18-24 years said they use their mobile phone while walking, compared with three in ten (31 per cent) of those aged 55 years and over.
Using headphones distracts users from the task at hand, whether that means concentrating on the road while driving, or keeping an eye — and ear — out for hazards like trains and cars while walking, Prof. Siri Hettige senior sociologist at Colombo University said.
Headphones also serve to isolate users from their environment, cocooning them so that they are less aware of what’s going on around them.
“Everybody is aware of the risk of cell phones and texting while driving, but I see more teenagers are most at risk. Yet traffic accidents involving pedestrians may be under-reported by police as not all injuries are serious enough to need medical help and not everyone will admit to using a mobile when the accident occurred.”
Public awareness should be drawn to this issue which has been overlooked, particularly targeting higher risk groups like pedestrians, cyclists and outdoor athletes, Prof. Hettige said.
Those who use mobile phones while crossing the road will be arrested and prosecuted with immediate effect, police warned.
Traffic personnel agree that using hand-held devices while driving and crossing the roads is the leading cause of traffic accidents.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Amarasiri Senaratne said such pedestrians would be charged under the1987 regulations which stipulated that a pedestrian could be penalized for failing to observe oncoming vehicles and thus causing a delay to traffic by his lackadaisical manner in crossing the road.
All police stations have been informed about the decision and all persons will be arrested for violating the regulations, he said. A fine of between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,500 could be imposed for this offence.
The police conduct awareness programs annually to almost 400, 000 children island wide, he said adding that, although we do not have robust data about this type of accident we have heard of cases in which pedestrians have been knocked down while listening on headphones or talking on mobile phones, DIG Seneratne added.
A police officer in Colombo Fort said he has warned many people not to use mobile phones and headsets while walking and crossing roads.
He said that strict rules should be implemented to prevent this kind of offence.
Suranga Perera, a bus conductor on route no. 107 related an incident he witnessed. A young mother and her child were travelling in his bus. He noticed that the lady was on a call after she got into the bus and was still talking on the phone when she got down from the bus, forgetting to collect her child .
Despite warning boards, bell and light systems and mechanical gates, motorists and commuters tend to cross the railway track, heedless of the risks. “Strict laws should be implemented against crossing rail tracks despite warnings”, Sri Lanka Railways Additional General Manager Nalaka Bandara said.
Using a phone throughout the day is a disorder common in people with bad life management skills. “I have treated over 200 cases of addiction to mobile phones and computers. They are mostly children who live in a virtual world of their own,” Dr. M. Shylaja a consultant psychologist at the Colombo National Hospital said.
The distraction caused by the use of electronic devices has been termed 'inattentional blindness' in which multiple stimuli divide the brain's mental resource allocation.