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N3TC: Boot your mobile when on the road

<B>OUT OF SIGHT:</B> N3TC, in partnership with the Arrive Alive digital team, has embarked on an awareness campaign to encourage drivers to #bootyourmobile. <i>Image:</i>
<B>OUT OF SIGHT:</B> N3TC, in partnership with the Arrive Alive digital team, has embarked on an awareness campaign to encourage drivers to #bootyourmobile. <i>Image:</i>
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JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng - Negligent driving and distractions are major causes of road crashes around the world; it is no different on the N3 Toll Route between Gauteng and kwaZulu-Natal that will soon be experiencing high holiday-traffic volumes.

N3 Toll Concession (N3TC*), the company managing the route, has noticed that many drivers continue to use a mobile device while traveling at high speed on this national route.

Andy Visser, marketing manager at N3TC, told Wheels24: “Although legislation is in place to deter the use of mobile devices while driving, it is extremely difficult to enforce. The only real solution, to successfully address these safety risks, is self-regulation – people taking individual responsibility not to use a cellphone while driving."

'DANGEROUS AS DRUNK'

A study in Canada assessed the risk of such behaviour by using driving simulators t show clearly how a smartphone can affect driving. The report in Canadian publication Mobile Enforcement said: “Tests have shown that you are four times more likely to crash when talking on a handheld and 23 times more likely to crash when you text while driving

"Using a device while driving is considered as dangerous as driving drunk."

Visser said: "It is with this reality in mind that N3TC, in partnership with the Arrive Alive digital team, has embarked on an awareness campaign to encourage drivers to #bootyourmobile. We hope to contribute to a mindset change in society.

“In recent years we have found the desire to be online and connected at all times significantly contributes to road crashes. Drivers not only talk but also perform a wide range of activities – texting, social networking, browsing on the internet and inputting navigational data – while at the wheel."

Johan Jonck of the Arrive Alive digital team added: "These activities cause severe distraction which not only threaten drivers but all road users, including passengers, cyclists, bikers and pedestrians. We strongly encourage you to end your conversations before it ends your life."

N3TC appeals to every driver to speak out and take responsibility to stop the scourge. Visser urged: “Ignoring the obvious dangers constitutes nothing less than willful blindness. You do so at your peril."

* N3TC is responsible for a 415km stretch of the N3 between Heidelberg in Gauteng and Cedara in kwaZulu-Natal, known as the N3 Toll Route. The N3 Toll Route traverses four of South Africa’s provinces – Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and kwaZulu-Natal.

SOME INTERESTING FACT FROM #bootyourmobile

  • According to Mobile Enforcement 1.5 seconds is the minimum amount of attention that a driver who texts takes away from the road. If traveling at 60km/h, the driver will have travelled the length of a football field without looking at the road.

  • AT&T's Teen Driver Survey determined that 97% of teens agreed that texting while driving was dangerous, yet 43% didit anyway.

  • Teens who text while driving spend 10% of the time outside their lane.

  • 40% of teens say that they have been in a car when the driver used a cellphone.

  • According to 77% of teens, adults tell them not to text or email while driving, yet adults do it themselves ‘all the time'.

  • Most teens expect a reply to a text or email within five minutes, which puts pressure on them to respond while driving.

  • 19% of drivers of all ages admit to surfing the web while driving.

  • Engaging in visual-manual sub-tasks (such as reaching for a phone, dialling and texting) associated with the use of hand-held phones and other portable devices increased the risk of a crash by three times. (VTTI)

  • Some drivers are still unaware that talking on a hands-free kit is distracting from driving, believing it's holding the phone that is a distraction rather than the call itself. Research shows the call is the main distraction and hands-free calls cause almost the same level of risk.

  • Drivers using a phone have slowed reaction times and had difficulty controlling speed and lane positions. Tests have found drivers speaking on a phone, hands-free or hand-held, four times more likely to be in a crash that causes injury. Their crash risk remains higher than normal for up to 10 minutes after the call has ended.

  • The effect of talking on a phone while driving has been shown to be equal to, and in some cases even worse than, drunk driving. Driver reaction times have been found to be 30% slower while using a hands-free phone than driving with a blood alcohol level of 80mg alcohol per 100ml blood (the current UK limit) and nearly 50% slower than driving under normal conditions.

  • Many people have questioned whether it is rational to ban hand-held phones when it is impossible to ban conversations with passengers. However, research comparing drivers on phones and drivers with chatty passengers found drivers on phones had much longer reaction times and worse speed control.

Drivers with chatty passengers performed nearly as safely as drivers studied with silent passengers.

However, it is also sensible for drivers not to engage in detailed or stressful conversations or, worse, arguments with passengers. Reading and writing messages while driving is even more impairing as it takes your mind, hands and eyes off the road.

Data supplied by
www.arrivealive.co.za

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