QIC Insured, in collaboration with Road Safety UAE, conducted a research to discover behaviors pertaining to the usage of mobile phone in the car. Unfortunately, the statistics aren’t very encouraging.
According to this study, only 26% individuals claimed to have never used a phone while driving. At least 74% drivers declared to use their phones while driving to answer incoming calls, while another 43% (primarily young drivers) said to use it for outgoing calls.
19% drivers used their phones to see incoming text messages, while 14% used them for outgoing messages.
It needs to be remembered that mobile calling and text messaging combines all 4 elements of distracted driving:
- Manual distraction [lifting hands off car controls]
- Visual distraction [not seeing the road]
- Distraction of the mind [focusing elsewhere]
- Auditory distraction [subconsciously muting background sound]
These are the leading causes of accidents, injuries and deaths on the road.
Among those who will most likely indulge in unhealthy driving practices are 25-29-year-old and those residing in Sharjah. On a positive note, Westerners are least likely to use their phones while driving.
Drivers may also handle their mobile phones in hands-free mode. At least 60% of the respondents said they use hands-free in more than half of their rides. 35% drivers used the built-in feature in their cars, 31% used cabled hands-free and 23% employed portable Bluetooth devices.75% drivers used the built-in hands-free feature in their cars.
These findings have created a sense of emergency with relevant authorities. Thomas Edelmann, Founder and Managing Director of Road Safety UAE, stressed the importance of educating drivers about the perils of using a mobile phone in the car while driving. According to him, there’s a need to implement a ban on mobile usage while driving. He appealed to the UAE motorists to obey the traffic rules and not put their own, their loved ones and other drivers’ lives at risk.