Don’t drive distracted
Warwickshire County Council is part of a new regional road safety campaign to encourage motorists to stay focussed on their driving by reducing the use of mobile phones and mp3 players whilst behind the wheel.
The campaign, which launches in Warwickshire on September 14, uses hard hitting imagery of body bags alongside images of a mobile phone or mp3 player to show the potentially fatal consequences these distractions can have.
Tag-lines ‘1 Message Read, 3 Mates Dead’ and ‘1 Track Found, 3 Friends Lost’, get drivers to think about the dire consequences they may have to live with if they do not give their full attention to the road.
The campaign targets a very real problem; RAC figures show that over 40 per cent of all drivers admit to being distracted by in-car gadgets whilst driving, with the most common cause being their radio or mp3 player.
A study by the Transport Research Laboratory reveals that mobile phone use is potentially more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. It claims that driver reaction times are 30 per cent slower in drivers using a mobile phone than in drivers over the legal alcohol limit. Alarmingly the study states that, at any one time, as many as 100 000 UK drivers are using their phone at the wheel.
Even more deadly than mobile conversations are text messages sent and received at the wheel. A particular problem in younger drivers, texting requires the user to actively type their message meaning both their hands and eyes are occupied. A recent THINK! study revealed almost a third of 18-24 year olds admit to texting at the wheel.
Cllr Richard Hobbs, Community Safety Portfolio Holder for Warwickshire County Council said: “I hope this powerful campaign imagery serves as a warning to drivers about how dangerous reading a text message, or finding a particular song, while driving can be.
“Our advice to drivers who use their mp3 players in the car would be to create travel playlists or ask passengers to choose tracks or tune the radio for them. Also drivers should always wait until they are safely parked before reading texts or making calls, however tempting it may be to do this at the wheel.”
The campaign posters which were designed in consultation with members of the public, will appear on billboards around the West Midlands for two weeks from September 14 2009.
For advice and information from Warwickshire County Council about staying safe on the roads as well as further information about current projects, visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/roadsafety.