Your Phone: Would It Kill You to Put It Away?
You're driving along and your phone buzzes. It's just a quick look, right? Wrong. Taking your mind and eyes off the road for just a split second can destroy everything forever. Focusing on anything other than driving is a serious distraction and it isn't worth the risk.
Mobile phones are one of the biggest distractions for drivers today. If you look at your phone for just one second while travelling at 50 km, you'll travel around four car lengths. That’s 14 metres of driving completely blind. You're four times more likely to be involved in a collision if you use a phone while driving.
How it affects your driving
- Physically: Instead of focusing on steering or changing gears you have to use your hands to hold the phone.
- Visually: You have to take your eyes off the road to look at the screen. Even if you're talking and looking ahead you can easily 'look but not see'.
- Auditory: Your attention shifts entirely from the road environment to the conversation.
- Cognitively: You're thinking about the chat instead of the road ahead.
The Penalties and Other Distractions
Getting caught holding a mobile phone while driving means 3 penalty points and a €120 fine. It's a quick way to lose your driving licence and your cash. But phones aren't the only problem. Putting on makeup, eating or interacting with passengers are all massive distractions.
What you can do
The safest thing to do is put your phone away until you arrive at your destination. There’s absolutely no safety benefit to using a phone hands-free over handheld. Before you start the engine, activate 'driving mode' or 'focus mode' in your settings. It alerts people that you're driving and mutes notifications. If you need to eat or put on makeup do it before you leave the house. Keep your eyes on the roadand put your phone away.
