Drivers warned: “Don’t be distracted!”
Distractions are the cause of one in four accidents in Spain, a new study has confirmed.
In 2018, 446 people died in an accident caused by distraction and 1,983 were injured.
The use of the mobile while driving multiplies the risk of an accident by four. Different studies suggest that talking on the mobile while driving is comparable to drink driving.
The problem has become so severe that the General Directorate of Traffic has launched yet another campaign of surveillance and awareness of the dangers posed by distractions at the wheel and has warned that CCTV cameras are watch-ing.
The ESRA Project (European Survey on Safety Attitudes of road users) highlights that most of respondents are aware that talking on the phone whilst behind the wheel has negative effects on driving and increases the risk of an accident. Despite this high risk perception, they persist on doing so, with the percentages particularly high among drivers up to 34 years.
The DGT calls for res-ponsibility of citizens (drivers or not) to:
• Dissuade drivers from calling or picking up the mobile.
• Before calling a mobile, think about whether the recipient is driving. If yes, do not call. We are all responsible.
• Disconnect the mobile while driving. Nothing can be so urgent that it compensates for the risk of suffering an accident.
• “Hands-free” phones, the only ones allowed, are less dangerous than the others, although not all the risks decrease: distraction, unseen signals, longer reaction time, unmarked maneuvers, etc all still apply.
The Road Safety Law considers driving using manually mobile phone devices, browsers or any other communication system, as well as, driving using head-phones, headphones or other devices that reduce the mandatory permanent atten-tion to driving as a serious infraction. They have an economic sanction of 200 euros and the loss of three points.