Study highlights dangers of using mobile phones whilst driving

A recent study of driver behaviour carried out for the National Safety Council of Ireland has revealed that more than one-in-five motorists on Irish roads (22%) have been involved in a collision or a near miss as a result of driving too close to the vehicle in front.

The research also found that those who use a handheld mobile phone while driving are almost twice as likely to have been involved in an incident due to tailgating. Over a third (36%) of those who admitted to using a handheld mobile phone while driving had been involved in a collision or a near miss as a result of tailgating compared to 15% of those surveyed who said they never use a hand held mobile while driving.

National Safety Council Chief Executive Pat Costello said: “Tailgating can and does cause road crashes. It is dangerous but preventable by keeping a proper distance between yourself and the vehicle in front. This research also highlights that avoiding distractions while driving is essential to maintaining an appropriate distance.

"Before a vehicle comes to a stop it will have travelled a certain distance before the driver has reacted to the need to bring it to a stop and, even after you have applied the brakes, further ground will be covered before it stops. The actual ‘stopping’ distance is therefore a combination of reaction distance and braking distance. Also, if you are tired or distracted (i.e. using a hand held phone), your reaction time will increase,” he said.

Mr Costello said that one way of ensuring a safe distance between cars was to use the two-second rule.

“When the vehicle in front of you passes a fixed object start counting as follows ‘one thousand and one, one thousand and two.’ If you have reached the fixed object before ‘two’ you are following too closely. If this is the case, slow down to create the two second space," he said.

“In poor driving conditions, add one more second for each weather condition encountered. For example, in rain and fog add two more seconds to your following time.”

The survey also revealed that out of the fully licensed drivers surveyed 22% had been involved in a collision or near miss as a result of driving too close to the vehicle in front. And of those drivers with a provisional license surveyed 13% had been involved in a collision or near miss as a result of driving too close to the vehicle in front.

The results were from an online survey of 1,998 drivers conducted for the National Safety Council by W5 Marketing Intelligence, in partnership with the Car Buyers Guide.ie in August 2003.

(SP)