‘As bad as drink-driving’: Brake urge Bluetooth phone BAN

Monday, November 18, 2013 - 13:00
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Mobile Phone Driving-fleet news

CRUSADE: Phone use clampdown

Brake are launching a national campaign against distracted driving after revealing 575,000 UK motorists have points on the licence for the offence.

The campaign – ‘tune in to road safety’ – urges fleet operators to ban even hands-free phone use for employees driving on company time.

It also insists employers should order staff to end calls with anyone who picks up while driving.

The campaign launches a decade after hand-held mobiles were banned at the wheel, and coincides with a week-long police enforcement campaign, supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Julie Townsend, Deputy Chief Executive at Brake, said: “We’re living in an age when being constantly connected is the norm; more and more of us have smartphones and find it hard to switch off, even for a minute.

“While there are enormous business benefits to this technology, it’s also posing dangerous temptations to drivers to divert their concentration away from the critical task at hand, often putting our most vulnerable road users in danger.

“Many people who wouldn’t dream of drink-driving are succumbing to using their phone and other distractions while driving, oblivious that the effect can be similar and consequences just as horrific.”

Suzette Davenport, National Police Lead for Roads Policing, added: “While a phone call may be important for a few minutes, killing or seriously injuring someone has life changing consequences.

“While most road users are careful, considerate and law-abiding; a minority are not.

“Too many collisions are caused each year by those who use excessive speed, drive without a seatbelt, drink or drug drive, or are distracted at the wheel.”

9 Comments

  1. Why uninvent an invented safety feature that has proved sucessful and saved lives. The people who kill people have the phones in their hands not on bluetooth. As a haulier of 26 years experience I am a safe driver based upon 2 million miles driven just at work.

    Safety courses I have attended allow the brain 7 items of concentration while driving before any distractional safety issues come into force????

    This over saturation of regulation has switched people OFF to the safety message. Less is more where safety messages are concerned. Obviously some people have a drum to bang but it doesn’t seem to be based on any form of experience or reality. 10 different people will read statistics in a different way. Statistics were invented for people who have no experience within the field being looked at – it may be a good idea to remember that instead of viewing them as factual.

  2. Comment No.5 – Totally agree mate, just ban driving altogether, this country is a joke, when will common sense prevail, the use of Blue tooth technology while driving is now a worldwide fitment in most modern cars now and so so much safer. For sure ban smoking & idiots who flick the buts out of the window.

  3. This is a great campaign – I think the Government should also get behind this campaign and if companies or parents what to give there empoyees smart phones then they also should fit one of the CU80 devices to the vehicle this Stops Texting, Social Medial and limits calls to white listed numbers for emergencies see the product that will save many lives at http://www.cu80.co.uk

  4. It doesn’t really matter if it is banned anyway, as someone who drives up to 50k miles per year I still witness at least five people per day holding their phones to their ears, texting or even using the speaker option on the phone but still holding it!

  5. Smoking should be banned. What’s more distracting than reaching for a cigarette packet or god forbid rolling your own. Looking for your lighter, matches and worse still throwing the lit butt out of the window onto oncoming traffic or even worse motorcyclists!

  6. What a load of rubbish ” to many collisions are caused by not wearing a seat belt “. I agree with the above Ban passengers . But its not about safety is all about the fines for the money .

  7. why not ban talking to or looking at other passengers? How about any in car entertainment, radios etc , ban them all . Take out the carpets and sound proofing , make the seats out of wood so people stay alert

  8. I drive many miles and can confirm without doubt the a hand free call is far less distracting than talking to passengers in the front and rear. It is imposable to talk to someone without looking at them, and very difficult to say ‘please wait’ to someone physically in your vehicle.

    First Ban passengers. Second Ban phones.