ROAD SAFETY ARTICLE
One major road safety risk behavior that has been elaborately treated in this column is the use of phones while driving. At the onset, the worry was the penchant by motorists to drive and use the phone while driving. To address this frantically, we defined the habit or infraction of using the phone while driving to include making or receiving calls, as well as using any facility in the phone such as email, text messaging, snapchats, and Google map among others.
The essence was to disabuse the minds of those who mischievously argue that the use of a phone while driving simply refers to phoning while driving. We equally stepped up our enforcement strategy by the novel introduction of emotional evaluation for defaulters. Today the diseased behavior has won converts among vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and motor cyclists which has resulted in avoidable deaths and injuries.
Globally, authorities are toying with innovative interventions to address this dangerous infractions including strengthening awareness in Africa through cost effective campaigns such as the Zusha road safety campaign in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania which was designed by Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development and Evaluation. There are other platforms such as ‘The Conversation’ funded by the National Research Foundation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Strategic Partner working with eight Universities spread in South Africa and Nigeria..
The rising trend, perhaps explains why there are calls globally including Nigeria to heighten and strengthen the enforcement on defaulters to cut down the rising spate of avoidable road traffic crashes especially in low and middle income countries which account for a greater portion of global crash index. There are equally series of researches seeking for better answers and feedback.
For the records, the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 and the Revised Highway Code lists the use of phone while driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs as traffic offences even though our focus is on phoning.. The Revised Highway Code, warns drivers against driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or harmful substances because they impair vision, judgement, coordination and slows down reaction just like the phone.
The 2016 National Road Traffic Regulations in section 175(1) notes that,’’ any person, who while driving or attempting to drive or when in charge of a motor vehicle is under the influence of intoxicating drugs or alcohol above the legal limit or to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of such motor vehicle shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction…’’
Nevertheless, despite this provisions and the avalanche of strategies to address this risk behavior in low, middle income countries such as ours as well as developed climes, majority of drivers are unconvinced that indulging in this risk behavior poses dangers until they become direct or indirect victims. Others are also unconvinced that strengthened laws on the use of mobile phones while driving will deter defaulters and ultimate will make the roads safer. Those in this category will go to any length to oppose tougher laws or even stronger enforcement especially in developing climes.
Now let me pilot you through developments in the developed clime with reference to the United Kingdom where a survey was conducted to psyche road users especially drivers behavior. The publications of the findings coincided with a new law which now states that almost any use of a handheld phone is punishable with six points and a £200 fine which is equivalent to over a hundred thousand Naira depending on the exchange rate in our clime.This new law, if you reflect, fits perfectly with the definition I stated earlier on in this piece on what the infraction of using the phone while driving truly means. Following this development and explanation given, this new introduction in the United Kingdom ultimately seeks to stop drivers from using their phones to take photos or videos, scroll through playlists or play games.
The new law has closed the lacuna that was created by the old law which merely stated that it was a criminal offence to use a hand-held mobile phone to call or text while driving ,thus leaving a legal lacuna which allowed drivers to escape punishment for other actions such as taking photos. Before now, taking photos while driving was not seen as ‘interactive communication’, and therefore did not fit the previous definition of the offence.
A further survey was conducted between 18 to 21 March focusing on two thousand drivers. It found out that 43percent of respondents were not aware of the changes being introduced while 75percent were fully supportive of the change in the law. Notwithstanding these findings, many expressed skepticism as to how effective it will be in getting defaulting drivers to change their behavior and make the roads safer.
The findings also revealed that just two percent of drivers said they considered that the new changes will be ‘very effective’, with 49 per cent maintaining that it would be ‘partly effective’ while 45 per cent said it would not be effective.
What is therefore clear from this finding is that a significant number of drivers support the law being strengthened as this would make it easier to prosecute drivers who put their lives as well as the lives of other road users at risk by using a handheld phone while driving .Their argument is that , using a phone to take a photo or look at a playlist or any other facility in the phone is as distracting as using it to talk or text.
Meanwhile, the success in the new law lies in effective and rigorous enforcement which has also remained the bane in our clime as most defaulters argue that the enforcement is not as strict and rigorous as it should be to act as deterrent. To put it better, once drivers in the United Kingdom are convinced that the chances of being caught is slim, then just making a tougher law would make no difference in the fight against this risky behavior. It is therefore not surprising that only two percent of drivers argue that the new law will be very effective in changing risky driving behavior.
