As an Emergency Services volunteer in South Australia, I have seen the ugly side of what a motor vehicle in “control” of someone who’s not paying attention can do not only to other vehicles on the road, but buildings nearby and the people in or near them. I assure you that it only takes a moment of inattention at the wheel for your life to change forever.
Something that has really annoyed me recently is the disturbing number of people not only making calls without a handsfree kit, but the number of people who are sending text messages while they’re driving. While being stationary at lights may seem ok, but it’s still illegal! Unless you are parked, physically touching your mobile phone handset with your hands has breached the mobile phone usage laws. You need a handsfree kit that does not require tactile interaction from the user to make or answer calls.
In March this year, Telstra launched the M8 it can w8 campaign which involves a number of celebrities including a number of Motorsport drivers and personalities. The concept of M8 it can w8 is simple: Don’t send or read texts, emails, tweets or any other text based medium on your mobile phone while driving a vehicle. Despite the risks that are well known and documented, people continue to do so causing accidents and fatalities on Australian roads.
Some of you may have heard about the Blackberry outage across several continents last week, few of you would have heard of the interesting side effect of this outage. Did the Three Day BlackBerry Outage Last Week Save Lives?
Having been first on scene at ANOTHER car accident on the weekend which was caused by one person using a mobile phone while driving, I’d like to put a call out to the Ausdroid community, leading up to the Christmas holiday period to be smart! If you absolutely must use your mobile phone, pull over or use a handsfree kit. Don’t let it distract you from driving and arrive to your destination safely.
A saying I picked up from fellow emergency service workers involved with RCR (Road Crash Rescue) training is “It’s better to arrive 5 minutes late than to be DEAD on time”.
Please, be smart about when you use your mobile phone! If it’s hugely important and you need to answer it now pull over first. Otherwise remember, M8 it can w8!
I hope people realize how easy it is to lose concentration while driving and this does not apply to phone usage only but also to simply not looking what’s in front of you. Even you turn your head for 2-3 seconds, within those 2-3 seconds, the vehicle in front of you may start braking and if your distance is too close to the vehicle, that’s all it takes! And because you will slam your brakes, the vehicles behind can also crash into you. Keep your eyes on the road you idiots and oh, by the way, stop trying to kiss… Read more »