Whether you are in a Ferrari or a Ford, there is a lot out there that can steal your attention from the road. Millions of dollars are spent on awareness campaigns within Canadian provinces every year warning against distraction like texting while driving.
The statistics are out and it looks like in some provinces, distracted driving kills more people than speeding or driving drunk. The law here in our province is very clear that you are not allowed to hold a cell phone if you are driving. Bill 15, an act to ban the use of cell phones by drivers while driving, came into effect in December of 2002. And so, based on a recent survey, it looks like ninety-five per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians believe cell phone use by drivers is either a serious or very serious safety problem.
A couple of things to note that passengers may still use them and it looks like drivers will be permitted to use their cell phones but only if it is hands-free. So, for most people that would mean paring their phone via bluetooth wireless (if your vehicle supports it) so it can take voice commands to call, answer, or hang-up without you having to take your eyes off of the road.
With that in mind though, I’ve reviewed the statistics on drivers using any and all of the hand-free options, and to be honest, it’s dangerous as well. Even people who believe they are responsible get caught up in distracting conversations and so it is advisable that all drivers avoid using any type of cell phone while operating a vehicle.
After reviewing the stats, it looks like the numbers are up here in this province when it comes to people texting and driving. What’s caught my attention was the fact that it looks like 71 per cent of teens admit to texting while driving, while 78 per cent admit to reading or receiving a text while driving. So, it’s a worrying statistic to say the least.
With that in mind, it looks like change will only come through education. And so, a good example was this January past, the RNC started a campaign called “Operation Ringtone” a 13-week initiative to crack down on distracted drivers whereby 180 tickets were handed out to distracted drivers over an 8 day period in the metro region. So, based on those numbers, it’s going to take partnering with community groups and education at schools to change our cultures attitude on driving distracted.
All things considered, Volkswagen has created an eye opening video called “Eyes On The Road”, that has literally gone viral on the Internet related to the dangers of texting and driving whereby people at a Hong Kong movie theatre were watching a Volkswagen ad before their movie I guess as part of the previews, and it was a video of a car driving down the road during which they were all sent a text to their phones and when they all looked down to check it the car on the ad crashed jolting everyone who got distracted. Their reactions were, for a moment, quite profound.
Finally, a Calgary company has developed a smartphone app that helps people who are phone-obsessed manage their calls and texts while driving. It’s called “OneTap” a free app that uses GPS to detect when a person is in a car and so will manage all calls, texts and alerts coming into the phone that could be a distraction while the person is driving. It’s currently out for Android devices and will soon be available for the iPhone. You can find more details at: http://www.getonetap.com
