Latest technological advancements are making our lives much easier and enjoyable. We got used to it that we wonder how people’s lives before the Internet were. However, with every great invention there generally are dangerous uses as well. You can be glued to a phone while you are sitting at home with hardly any risks. But you may be risking everything if you only look somewhere else other than the road for few seconds.
Social media is an obsession for some people who like to document their lives minute by minute on profiles. Sometimes it is hard to understand what is so important that cannot wait until they finish with driving. It is no exaggeration to say that they are making a choice between getting seriously injured (or dying) and updating social media profile when they divide attention.
Recent Survey Reports Highlight New Trends
These days we seem to love ourselves. People cannot stop snapping their own picture; Selfie. A survey carried out in Europe by Ford found that British motorists are far ahead. 33% of Brits, 28% of Germans and French and 26% of Italians have confirmed that they have taken a Selfie while Driving (SWD). Some of those were so proud that they uploaded the pictures to social media accounts.
Another survey carried out in Europe among 7,000 smart phone users between the age of 18 and 24. It confirmed that 25% of them updated social media profiles or checked accounts while driving. According to experts it lasts about 20 seconds to update a profile or check an account. A car traveling at 60 mph covers the length of 5 football pitches in that time.
If such car was to crash the consequences are likely to be serious injuries (or even death). Everyone can see the risks people are facing when they pay more attention to gadgets. It takes only few seconds of lack of concentration to end up in an accident. The gap between your car and the car in front is about 2 seconds. So, 20 seconds is 10 times more than the time it takes to crash to the vehicle in front.
Penalties, Driver Awareness and Being Smart
Using any hand held device while driving is a traffic offence in almost everywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter what was the device used and you were taking a selfie or calling someone. Penalties are varying from fines to license point deductions. There is a high chance you may have to go to court for endangerment as well. As a result you may even lose the license especially for repeat offences.
Many people may think that nobody will see what they are doing. A few people will try to conceal the act by keeping the phone between legs. It may be the case that you can get away with it. However, it is your, passengers and many other road users’ life you are risking. Do you want to enjoy a long life and take thousands more selfies or that one is worth the risk?
No penalty is more effective than controlling your actions. Surveys suggest that youngsters are much more likely to engage in such activities. That is one of the reasons why teenage car insurance rates are several times more expensive. You can have smart phones and you can be smart about using them, too.
Technology offers preventative solutions to problems it causes. If you think you or your teenage son/daughter is weak and cannot control the urges of being up to date on social media you can use apps to turn off the phone the moment a vehicle movement is detected. There are so many of those apps and some of them can warn parents when children use it while behind the wheel. Think and take action before it is too late.