Don’t swap your family for a text
On average, according to a Forbes Advisory in the USA, drivers spend approximately 1.38 minutes on their phone, for every hour of driving.
When you set off to your holiday destination with your family this festive season, make a commitment to yourself and them to never use your phone while driving.
Give your phone to your ‘co-pilot’ and allow them to answer texts, select the music or whatever task will remove your eyes from the road and cause a potentially tragic collision.
Eugene Herbert, the CEO of MasterDrive, says that driving is a mentally demanding task.
“Drivers need to divide their attention between operating vehicle controls, looking out for hazards, changing traffic patterns as well as scanning the area for suspicious individuals. If you add distracted driving to this milieu of obstacles, your risk is increased as much as it would if you were driving after drinking,” he said.
On average, according to a Forbes Advisory in the USA, drivers spend approximately 1.38 minutes on their phone, for every hour of driving. It takes 30 to 60 days to break a habit – challenge yourself to not touch your phone while driving so that the habit is gone by February.
According to the same Advisory, the majority of distracted driving occurs between 18:00 and 23:00 while the least distracted driving happens between 06:00 and 09:00. The truth is, it is never safe to use your phone and drive, whatever the time of day.
In 2020, figures in the USA showed that 3 142 people died because of distracted driving. The modern car is generally equipped with an array of hands free features which may still cause drivers’ focus to shift.
Data from the USA says approximately 12% of all car accidents happens as a result of cellphone use while driving.
While many people will never even consider risky driving behaviours, they do still use phones and drive which is just as, if not more, dangerous than those the risky behaviours.
A driver being distracted for a few seconds, removes the time they have for evasive action to avoid a collision. The Forbes Advisor says in general, human reaction time is .75 of a second while the general mechanical reaction time is an additional .75 of a second, taking it a total of 1.5 seconds to react to road hazards.
If you will be on the roads with your family, in particular, this holiday season, simply do not take the chance of picking up your phone. The bonus is that you have plenty of people to do it for you. If you are tempted, ask yourself: “Is this text more important than my family’s lives?”
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
