Mobile Phone Scourge – Mark It – Map It!
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Generally it can be said that a motorcyclist’s lot is a happy one. Out on the road being observant and looking out for our own skin while interacting with other vehicles, however one observation that always crops up from riders is the use of mobile phones by other vehicle users.
There doesn’t seem to be a week from Northern Ireland or Europe or even globally that on the internet especially the social media of Facebook and Twitter, there is a campaign launched to highlight the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.
The use of the mobile phone whilst driving – talking or texting is an ongoing scourge – with riders’ continued observance of their use with some very high profile court cases of riders killed by drivers whilst using mobile phones.
Advice – Rules – Regulations – Guidelines
Advice and rules and regulations and guidelines for not using mobile phones whilst driving are at every turn in road safety messages and campaigns, featured on the news, police stop camera type programmes, social media, specific police enforcement campaigns and the High Way Code.
The Northern Ireland Department Of The Environment (DOE) – Road Safety Education – has produced an advisory leaflet which highlights the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.
Although they say that, “Having a phone with you on a journey can be smart for personal security and to help in an emergency.” The main message is that, “If you use a mobile phone while driving, you’re one call from being a killer, one text from being in prison.”
One of the latest campaigns, with an accompanying video, is from Kent County Council’s road safety team, who found that a third of drivers in the county use their mobile phones while driving, including texting or accessing social networks, despite knowing it is dangerous and illegal.
Another one from England is my red thumb which has travelled across from Colorado, USA, originally called Red Thumb Reminder it was a reminder for people not to use their phone whilst driving; through painting their thumb nail red. So every time a driver saw their red thumb they were reminded of the message.
We could go on picking these campaigns and videos out from all over the world but what we want to see is actually how prevalent mobile phone and distracted vehicle user use is.
If you want to help, then you can go to our Mobile Phone Scourge – Mark It – Map It! online map were you can add a “marker” if you have spotted a road user on their mobile phone talking or texting “illegally” or some other distraction so you can then gauge the ongoing scourge of mobile phone usage on the road.
Born on 26th June, in Douglas, on the Isle of Man.