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Bad driving under the cellular influencePEOPLE using hand-held cellphones while driving are four times more likely to have an accident than those driving under normal conditions, according to statistics recently released by a Canadian based research team. Although no comparable research has yet been undertaken in South Africa, the Automobile Association firmly believes that driver use of hand-held cellphones should be outlawed as soon as possible on the strength of the Canadian experience. "According to the Human Sciences Research Council, there are 450 000 serious car collisions every year and 10 000 deaths on SA roads which costs the country R10-billion in clean ups, lost earnings and lost state subsidies," says Bjorn van Oört, assistant general manager of public affairs at the AA. "There is no doubt that the use of hand-held cellphones in cars is dangerous and can contribute markedly to this already very high accident rate." The dangers of car cellphone use are well known and include loss of concentration, reduced competence as drivers try to drive with only one hand on the wheel and reduced visibility while holding the phone to the ear. Drivers often fail to indicate a change of direction because the hand usually used for this purpose is holding the cellphone. Others simply take the remaining hand off the wheel to indicate - leaving the car rudderless for what could prove to be a fatal few seconds. Perhaps realising the dangers, many people slow right down when talking on a cellphone, but this can be dangerous in itself - causing other drivers to take chances in trying to overtake them. "Although cellphone use in a car is not illegal, someone having a conversation on a cellphone and driving negligently as a result can be prosecuted for reckless driving," says Van Oört. "This situation is far from ideal because a charge of negligent driving as a result of cellphone use is hard to prove. Traffic officers have to spend valuable time testifying in courts that are in any event already heavily overburdened. "A far better solution would be to streamline the process by legislating against the use of hand-held cellphones in cars with the fine for non-compliance set, for example, at between R200 and R300," he says. The AA is less critical of hands-free car kits because these do not affect driver mobility or visibility. Concentration loss, however, remains a potentially lethal factor. "Hands-free car kits are a better bet safety-wise, but they are not the full answer. If, for example, you should receive news while driving that someone you are close to had been involved in an accident and taken to hospital, your concentration would naturally fly out the window - quite possibly leading to another accident," says Van Oört. The AA does, however, recognise the valuable role cellphones have to play in emergencies. "In the past, many car accident victims died of shock before the medical services could get to them," he says. "Cellphones have enabled witnesses or passers-by to call for help that much more quickly - often saving the victim's life in the process."
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