POLOKWANE – And, that action needs to come from officials, but, more importantly, in the form of a change of attitude among drivers.
The AA recently brought together a number of journalists to drive in simulators, who were tested without distractions and again with distractions.
During the test, journalists were sent SMS’ they needed to respond to, and were asked to open and close a water bottle. They were also distracted by being engaged in simple conversation.
Without distractions, the journalists were able to complete a lap of a racing circuit in fairly good times. Times recorded for these laps averaged around 1.41 minutes, with hardly any crashes. However, with the distractions, these lap times increased to 2.20 minutes, many of them with crashes or the cars spiralling out of control. Although not entirely scientific, the results point to the dangers of having your concentration averted from the road, even for a second.
But the problem is not purely with the cracking down on offenders who disobey regulations, specifically those who use electronic devices. According to AA, motorists who use these devices while behind the wheel need to change their attitudes, and take responsibility for their actions.
Although there are no local statistics on how distracted driving causes crashes, the AA believes there is sufficient evidence to suggest this number is large enough to warrant urgent attention. The AA states that law enforcement against distracted drivers should be high on the agenda of road traffic officials, beyond stopping motorists who use electronic devices.
The AA states there are many different distractions that constitute distracted driving, the following are among the most prevalent:
• Talking on cellphones, or texting while driving
• Eating while driving
• Putting on ties or other clothing while driving, or changing clothes when driving
• Applying make-up while driving
• Looking to the backseat to engage passengers, especially children
• Setting GPS devices while moving
• Searching for items in various areas of the car while driving.
