Mobiles and accidents the buried truth

Did you know that there were 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents in 2002 in the US that were caused by using mobiles while driving?

Mobiles and accidents the buried truth

Did you know that there were 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents in 2002 in the US that were caused by using mobiles while driving?

A long time ago, I saw a cartoon that showed a car in an accident, with just one hand of the dead man showing, clutching a mobile. Two doctors in the background are saying that if people talking on mobiles keep having accidents, then there will be no proof that mobile usage will lead to brain tumours because all of them will die in accidents before they have a chance to develop tumours.

But now suddenly the joke seems to be grimly real. An article in the New York Times says that cell phones cause a lot of danger to drivers. More than just saying that holding a mobile is dangerous, the article says that even using a hands-free set is dangerous because the conversation distracts the driver from following what is happening on the road.

However, this data was never made public, and only when two consumer advocacy groups filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (something similar to India's RTI act) was this information revealed. In fact, the NYT has published this information on this site, and this data is damning, to say the least.

No action

One of the things that this report stressed was that a media campaign should be developed that stresses on the issues involved with distracted driving. It also said that holders of a learner's permit should be prohibited from using a wireless communication device while driving.

More than that, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) goes so far as to say that "the driver's primary responsibility is to operate the vehicle safely...therefore NHTSA recommends that drivers not use these devices while driving, except in emergency. This recommendation applies to both hand-held and hands-free devices."

India scenario

This sort of data, when considered from the Indian angle, has serious ramifications. According to the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), India added 9.18 million GSM subscribers in February 2009 and at that time, the total stood at 277.1 million subscribers. If even a fraction drive by themselves and use a phone, then the results could be dangerous.

Fortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case so far. If we were to take Bangalore as an example, we find that things are not grim right now. In fact, the number of fatal cases in 2007 in Bangalore (957) is lesser than the corresponding number for 2008 (864) according to the Bangalore Traffic Police's Web site. However, if we don't take adequate steps to inform users, then the casualties could mount.

QUICK TAKE
>>NYT says that the US withheld data on risks of distracted driving
>>Much of this distraction is associated with mobile usage
>>This issue could be serious in a country like India too

Number of fatal cases in Bangalore
2001:u00a0668
2002:u00a0783
2003:u00a0843
2004:u00a0875
2005:u00a0796
2006:u00a0880
2007:u00a0957
2008:u00a0864
Source: www.bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in