Mobile Phones and Driving - Safety Tips

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), the peak industry body representing the mobile telecommunications industry in Australia, has produced the following driving tips as a public safety awareness measure.

1. Never Use a Hand-Held Mobile: In Australia it is illegal to use a mobile phone while driving unless you use a hands free in-car kit or portable hands free device. When using a portable hands free device make sure it is set up and working before you start to drive. A hands free device can reduce the physical effort to make and receive calls, however, it alone doesn’t make using a mobile phone while driving safe.

2. Never Read or Send SMS, Take Notes, Look Up Phone Numbers: Always keep both eyes on the road and do not read or send SMS text messages or take notes during a call while driving. If required, use a directory assistance service which connects you directly to the number and don’t look up phone numbers from your phone’s memory.

3. Don’t Call in Heavy Traffic, Poor Road Conditions or Bad Weather: Don’t accept or make calls if traffic, weather or road conditions would make it unsafe to do so. Also, even if the traffic conditions are light, always tell the person you are speaking to that you’re driving and that you may have to end the call if driving conditions change. 4. Don’t Engage in Complex or Emotional Conversations: If a call becomes complex or emotional tell the person you are speaking to, you are driving and suspend the call. Complex and emotive conversations on a mobile phone, or with other passengers, and driving don’t mix – they are distracting and can be dangerous.

5. Use Message Services to Answer Calls: If a call is unnecessary or you consider it unsafe to answer at the time, don’t answer the call and let it divert to voicemail or an answering service.

6. Pull Over Safely if You Stop to Make a Call: If you choose to stop to answer or make a call or retrieve a message, pull over carefully in a safe area. Don’t stop where you could be a hazard to other vehicles, pedestrians or yourself.

7. Use Your Phone’s Features to Reduce the Effort to Make a Call: Carefully read your phone’s instruction manual and learn to use the speed dial and redial features of your phone. Also, if possible, use a phone with voice activated dialing and automatic answering features to reduce the effort to make and receive a call. 8. Plan Your Trip and Make Calls When Stationary: Whenever possible plan your trip and try to make calls when stationary or during rest breaks in long trips.

9. Tell callers you’re driving while on the phone: Always let the person you’re speaking to know that you are driving. This lets them know that you may not always respond immediately and reminds you that driving safely is your first priority. “Hello, I’m in the car at the moment…”

10. In Emergencies Use Your Phone to Call for Help: Dial '000' or '112' in case of fire, traffic accident, road hazard or medical emergency. Both '000' and '112' are free calls, and will connect you to emergency services. Almost one third of all genuine calls to ‘000’ are made from mobile phones.

If you must talk on a hands-free phone while driving:

Make sure it is a hands-free phone that is set up and working before you start driving.

Keep the conversation short. Don't engage in complex or emotional conversations.

Tell the person on the other end that you are driving and may have to end the call.

Never text message (SMS) while driving.

End the call if it is distracting you from driving.

Remember, if you don't have proper control of your vehicle because you are talking on a hands-free mobile phone you are guilty of an offence.No mobile phone use by learner and P1 provisional drivers and riders

From 1 July 2007, learner and provisional drivers and riders must not use a mobile phone while driving or riding.

This includes phones in the hands-free mode or with loud speaker operating, sending or receiving SMS messages, playing games or any other function on your phone.

The penalty for mobile phone use is three demerit points (or four if the offence occurs in a school zone) and a fine.

Learner and P1 drivers and provisional riders are developing their vehicle control, hazard perception skills. Mobile phone use can distract the novice drivers and riders from the driving task. Studies have found that using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous as it slows reaction times and interferes with a driver’s perception skills and increases the chance of having a crash.

So switch your phone off.

The study documented how mobile phone use alone reduces 37% of brain activity engaged in driving. This was done using brain imaging. During the study, drivers on a simulator while on the phone were found to zigzag out of their lanes.The findings also suggest that making mobile phones hands-free or voice activated for that matter is not really enough to do away with distractions.

“Drivers need to keep not only their hands on the wheel; they also have to keep their brains on the road,” said researcher Marcel Just.

Talking on a cell phone has a special social demand, and not interacting with the caller can be interpreted as rude or insulting behavior, he added.

The 29 volunteers for the study used a driving simulator inside an (MRI) brain scanner. They steered a car along a virtual winding road either while they were undisturbed or while they were deciding whether a sentence they heard was true or false.

Just’s team used state-of-the-art functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure activity in 20,000 brain locations, each about the size of a peppercorn. Measurements were recoded every second.

The listening-and-driving mode produced a 37 percent decrease in activity of the brain’s parietal lobe, which is associated with driving.

WARNING

A new study has found that using a mobile phone while driving could be as dangerous as being under the influence of alcohol.

Cell Phone Use Should be Banned While Driving ,In 2005 in the UK 13 deaths and over 400 injuries were attributed to accidents where drivers were using cell phones, deaths which could have possibly been avoided. There are 4 main reasons for banning cell phones at the wheel: Research has proven that it is difficult to concentrate on driving and talking at the same time.Speaking on a cell phone is an anti-social activity because it puts the lives of others at risk. It doesn't matter how well we drive, if another driver is not being as professional or as careful, especially using a phone and splitting his/her attention, we are put in danger by their actions. Talking on a phone while driving reduces the competence level to control the vehicle as well as increasing the response time to any danger. By speaking on cell phones while driving, such a responsibility is treated with impunity and the dangers ignored. The driver does not deserve to be in front of that wheel. There was a time not long ago when no one had a cell/mobile phone and we all got on with our business quite adequately. Cell phones might be very useful for an emergency situation, but there really is no need for anyone to have one in a car and talking on it.Hands-free models were still found in many studies to distract the driver even though the driver had both hands on the wheel. In some studies, drivers themselves have admitted that they've become distracted emotionally when they use any type of cell phone while driving. When driver concentration is impaired, the focus is away from the road and from operating the vehicle at maximum efficiency. Also, there could be a false sense of hope if people think they are being safe because they're using a hands-free model of cell phone while driving.Some companies have enacted policies for their employees that state that an employee must not use a cell phone while driving, but must always pull over and stop the vehicle safely before using the phone. Some studies have shown that using a cell phone while driving is actually just as dangerous as driving drunk! Both factors can impair concentration as well as reaction time to other vehicles or problems on the road. If a cell phone is used in crawling traffic such as a traffic jam, it is not as likely to cause danger as when a driver uses a cell phone at even moderate speeds or on twisting and turning roads.A recent British study showed that talking on a mobile phone while driving was more hazardous than operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Tests conducted by scientists for UK-based insurance firm, Direct Line, involved 20 subjects using a driving simulator to test reaction times and driving performance and compared this to when drivers had too much to drink. The results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk - and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. The tests also showed that drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front.