How essential is it to send a text while you’re driving? As crucial as someone’s life?
Of course not. But it is incredibly tempting to study and even respond to texts while at the wheel. And it is extremely harmful, as current incidents confirm.
Tragic texts
There’s the case of 13-year-old Hope Fennell, who was crushed by an 18-ton lorry on her way house from college.
The driver, Darren Foster, had been arguing with his girlfriend by means of text in the run-up to the accident. He was so worried the texts would be employed against him that he deleted them from his phone whilst Hope lay dying.
Foster admitted dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice, but the coroner ruled that he was not to blame for Hope’s death.
Then there’s 19-year-old Jordan Wickington, who was cycling to operate when he was run down by Kiera Coultas.
She was composing a text message at the time, and was subsequently jailed for 4 years after getting located guilty of causing death by harmful driving.
Mobile menace
In 2012, 378 accidents were reported involving the use of mobile phones at the wheel, according to the Department for Transport. The accidents led to 548 casualties and 17 deaths.
But the actual death toll is probably significantly larger. So-called ‘in-car distractions’, which could incorporate mobile phones, led to a lot more than 9,000 accidents and 196 deaths among 2010 and 2012.
Driver ignorance
It has been illegal to use a hand-held mobile telephone at the wheel for a decade, but a lot of motorists are ignorant of the law.
RAC analysis shows that 12% of drivers do not know that texting and driving is illegal and 21% do not realise it is illegal to verify Facebook and Twitter even though driving.
If that were not undesirable sufficient, a shocking 61% of motorists have not got the message that texting at the wheel of a stationary vehicle with the engine on is also against the law.
Research findings
The investigation maybe explains why it is so frequent to see somebody chatting on their mobile although on the move.
In the RAC survey, 3 quarters of motorists reported frequently spotting a driver on a hand-held mobile, with virtually half claiming they witness other motorists talking on a mobile on most journeys.
Texting while a car is stationary is typical, with over half of motorists (53%) frequently seeing other men and women texting in stationary visitors in the course of half or some of their journeys.
Perception gap
We may be happy to tell tales on other road users, but we are apparently significantly less keen to confess to our own crimes, with just 8% admitting to utilizing a hand-held phone although driving.
But several of us are conscious of the dangers. More than a third (34%) worry about other drivers becoming distracted by speaking on mobile phones whilst at the wheel.
The distractions are certainly critical. The Transport Investigation Laboratory, a private consider tank, has conducted some study into the impact of mobiles on the driving skills of motorists among the ages of 17 and 24.
The results show that reaction times slowed by 13% when drivers had been at the drink drive limit, by 21% when they had been higher on cannabis, by 26.5% when speaking on a hands-totally free mobile and by 37% when texting.
Getting away with it
So why are so a lot of motorists satisfied to use their mobile behind the wheel?
Maybe we don’t count on to be caught. Just more than half (51%) believe it is unlikely they will be caught sending texts while their vehicle is stationary even though 4 in 10 (42%) motorists consider it unlikely they will be collared for texting whilst driving, and 16% consider it ‘extremely unlikely’.
Or probably there is not a strong enough deterrent. If you are caught, the punishment is 3 penalty points and a £100 fine, increasing to a feasible £1,000 on conviction in court.
Tougher penalties
There is a for that reason a growing get in touch with for tougher penalties, with a lot of professionals believing that drivers caught on their mobiles ought to at the extremely least obtain a 1-year ban – the exact same punishment as drink drivers.
A police crackdown wouldn’t go amiss, either. Or perhaps a tough-hitting public awareness campaign, related to the anti-speeding and anti drink-driving campaigns.
Of course, it’s also late for many bereaved families. But it is never ever too late to save one more life. So next time you want to choose up your mobile, just think, who is genuinely dying to take the get in touch with.
Texting at the wheel requires its toll
