Luisa Dillner in London
BRITAIN’S Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is thinking twice about banning drivers from using their mobile phones while on the road.
But lobbyists there want cellphones off the road, whether hand-held or mounted on a car kit.
Is there any evidence that mobile phones actually cause accidents? “There’s precious little evidence,” admits David Rogers, road safety adviser for RoSPA. “We’d like to collect statistics on the extent of the problem. But a sensible person knows it’s ridiculous to expect to be in control if you have a cellphone wedged in your neck.”
The evidence that does exist is convincing. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study from Canada of 699 drivers who had cellphones and were involved in car accidents.
The study shows that making a call increases the risk of an accident by a factor of four. The risk is highest within five minutes of starting a call and is similar to driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit. It found that “hands-free” phones had the same risk as hand-held ones. The risk was higher on faster roads.
The study points out that while the causes of accidents are complicated, “error on the part of drivers contributes to more than 90% of events”. The evidence has prompted Brazil, Israel, Sweden and two Australian states to ban drivers from using hand-held phones.
Many of the criticisms levelled at the RoSPA campaign come from business people who use their cars as extensions of their offices and constantly use their mobile phones.
RoSPA warns companies that employees should be encouraged to take regular breaks from driving and pick up their messages while stationary.
Meanwhile, psychological studies of drivers with type-A personalities – ambitious, competitive and with time urgency – show that they drive faster and have higher crash rates.
RoSPA argues that our minds are simply not on the road. “The issue is not really about mobile phones,” says Rogers. “They are just the symptom of the underlying malaise of bad driving.”