Is that Call or Text really worth it?

How many of us have been driving along the road and heard our mobile phone start to ring, or the tone of a text message reaching your phone?

How many of us have reached for the mobile phone to answer the call or look down at the screen for a few seconds to see who’s messaged us?

I’m sure that the majority of us have been tempted to do so at some point or other. But, have you thought about what the consequences of doing so could be?

If you look down at your screen for 4.6 seconds, driving at a speed of 30mph, you will have travelled 63 meters, almost the length of two double decker buses!

What will you have missed by looking away from the road in that 4.6 seconds? A child stepping out into the road? A cyclist indicating that they plan to turn right? The car in front of you braking suddenly? That 4.6 seconds could mean the difference between stopping or reacting in time and a collision.

According to research carried out by the World Health Organisation1, drivers who use their mobile phones whilst driving are:

• Much less aware of what is happening on the road around them
• More likely to miss seeing road signs
• More likely to be unable to maintain their position in the appropriate lane and a stable speed
• More likely to drive too close to the car in front
• More likely to react slower and take longer to stop
• More likely to manoeuvre into unsafe spaces in traffic
• More likely to feel under stress of pressure whilst driving

Between the 15th-25th April an all Wales Mobile Phone Campaign will be in force with the aim of educating the public about the dangers of using their mobile phones whilst driving and of the possible consequences of doing so.

Even though we will be enforcing mobile phone offences, our hope is that we won’t see motorists using their mobile phones during the course of the campaign or at any other time throughout the year.

It is important to note that GoSafe have been enforcing mobile phone offences along with seatbelt and speeding offences for some time now.

People think GoSafe actively look for offenders and put cameras in places to catch motorists out. The truth is that our hope and aim is to see our cameras reporting zero offences; that is a good day for GoSafe.

We want to see Welsh roads safer for all road users.

So, next time your mobile phone rings or you hear the tempting tingle of a text message reaching your phone, think about what could happen in the few seconds your eyes are not focused on the road around you.

That call or text can wait. Is it really worth the risk?

1 https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/distracted_driving_en.pdf?ua=1