Distractions
are one of the leading causes of single vehicle road crashes among young
people, according to an international study published on World Freeways.
Liam
Clarke, commercial manager of the Bakwena N1N4 Toll Road Concessionaire,
attributes some of these fatalities to texting or using a mobile phone while
driving.
“It
takes about four seconds to read a text on our phones, and another five to
reply. That’s about nine seconds with your eyes off the road. Nine seconds on
the road is a long time. Couple this with bad weather, poor visibility, speed
or alcohol and you have a disaster waiting to happen,” notes Clarke.
According
to the International Transport Forum’s (ITF) 2013 Road Safety Annual Report,
South Africa has one of the highest road crash rates in the world,
with around 25% of those crashes caused by the cellphone use while driving.
Cellphones
affect driver competence
Although
alcohol and speeding are among the leading factors in South Africa’s road
crashes, the use of cellphones while driving is one of the top causes of driver
distraction.
In
South Africa drivers caught using their mobile phones whilst driving can be
fined up to R750. In the Western Cape the same offence is also punishable with
a fine of R500 and having your cellphone confiscated, where should you want it
back will have to pay an additional release fee of R1140.
ITF
says cellphone usage while driving affects driver competence, resulting in
a 37% decrease in parietal lobe, the part of the brain mostly responsible for
language.
More
stringent measures needed
Data
collected through the Discovery Insure Driver Challenge app, found that a
single instance of mobile phone usage represents an average of 52 seconds of
distracted driving. At 60km/h, this is equivalent to driving “blind” for one
kilometre and makes the driver four times more likely to have a crash, the
study found.
Clarke
says more stringent measures must be put into place to deter the use of
cellphones whilst driving.
“If the stats and fatality records tell us anything, it’s this: driving distracted not only places one’s life in danger, but also the lives of other motorists. Alcohol, fatigue and speeding are all known to perpetuate bad driving, but the use of a cellphone while driving is equally dangerous,” concludes Clarke.
Article
first appeared in: 
http://www.infrastructurene.ws/2018/03/09/driving-distracted-a-leading-cause-of-road-crashes/
