The last text.

This is not the first time that I write on my blog about texting and driving. The previous time, I wrote that this is a very unsafe practice and it is usually OMG and not LOL. But reading the news today I was once again shocked. This resembles a Greek tragedy: A 32 year old woman has died in a head-on collision on a US highway just seconds after she posted selfies and updated her status on Facebook, according to the police. The tragic part of the story is that the woman was listening to the “happy song” and her last (typed) words were: "The happy song makes me so HAPPY."

This takes the whole distraction while driving issue to a different level.  The crash statistics of texting and driving are nowadays well documented and the facts say that this is quite a common practice among drivers, especially among young drivers. It seems though that there is still a lot to be done. 

There is a lot to be done in terms of driver education. A lot of campaigns focus on speeding, like the “Join the drive” campaign that Queensland government launched before Christmas and kept it going during this last Easter period due to its big success.

I remember that at first, the whole discussion was about driving and talking on the mobile phone. After a few years and as the mobile phones evolved from the first generation almost primitive ones - good only for talking - to the new smartphones that you can send SMSs, connect to Facebook, check and respond to emails and even read a book, the driver distraction problem got much worst. 

There is also a lot to be done it terms of technology. Apple seems to be realizing the depth of the problem and just yesterday has announced that has filed a patent application for a system that could bar access to an iPhone’s messaging apps while a user is driving.

There is a lot to be done in terms of enforcing. While the road rules covers this topic quite adequate, It seems that it is not a top priority for police to target texting and driving.  Just a few days ago a West Australian police officer was photographed using his mobile phone while driving. As a reaction WA police have launched their Easter road safety blitz with a show of force designed to deter distracted drivers from picking up the phone while behind the wheel. That included the use of unmarked motorcycles to crack down on texting drivers.

And the craziness seems not to be limited to mobile phones. A few weeks ago, a driver on the Pacific Highway was readinga book while driving at speed over 100 km/h. 

At my previous post I was asking: Why can't we just do the right thing and don’t use the mobile phone while we are driving?  Why do we prefer OMG rather than LOL? It seems that we are way beyond this point. There is no time anymore to waste on asking theoretical questions. It is time to act. Everyone on his own and the responsible organisations and governments on a structured and effective way. 

Texting while driving. OMG not LOL!

While I was driving to get to a site inspection today I stopped at a  intersection with traffic lights. When I turned my head to my right, I noticed that all three vehicle drivers waiting at the lights at the lane next to me where texting. Heads down looking at their mobile phone which they were all holding with both their hands were clearly typing SMS text messages or using any other keyboard related application. Especially with the new smart phones there is a big number of very popular mobile phone applications like email, internet browsers, facebook, twitter, etch that you can use. 

http://wordproverb.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/texting-while-driving.html

I was puzzled at first that all three drivers were doing the same thing. I thought that it was a rare coincidence and it had to do with the traffic lights. Stopping on a red light may make people thing that they have the time to send a quick message or check if that email they have been waiting has come through. But then when the signals turned to green at least two of them that I managed to follow as we were driving parallel at the same direction kept the mobile phone on their hand and were driving with the other. One of them kept typing and occasionally looking at his phone. 

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/07/02/michigan-bans-texting-while-driving/

This is outrageous. People buy smart phones but they are not so smart themselves. Texting while driving is not only illegal in Queensland (300$ fine and 3 demerit points) and whole of Australia but is also considered more dangerous than drunk driving. Driver distraction and inattention have a detrimental impact on road safety.

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/38509/texting-while-driving-increases-crash-risk-by-23-times-study

And while numerous road safety campaigns focus on this issue, the numbers of drivers texting while driving increase. Even though that last year stories of drivers’crashing while texting messages like "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident" made the news. Different solutions with the help of technology were proposed, such as mobile phone deactivation or voice control texting. 

But the question still remains: Do we need someone else to take care of us? Why can't we just do the right thing and don’t use the mobile phone while we are driving?  Why do we prefer OMG rather than LOL?