Car and smartphone makers must come up with an answer to hand-held mobile phone dangers, says IAM RoadSmart
Road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has renewed its calls for car makers and smartphone manufacturers to work with the government to develop a technological solution to distracted drivers – saying that simply hoping that drivers will ‘do the right thing’ is not enough.
The call comes as Department of Transport Ministers plans to meet mobile phone manufacturers this month to hammer out proposals to tackle the growing issue of people interacting with their smartphones at the wheel.
This is in addition to the government announcing last November that anyone caught using a hand-held mobile phone while at the wheel of a car would be fined £200 and receive six points on their licence – a doubling of the existing penalty (reference 1).
The issue was brought into sharp focus with the jailing of Tomasz Kroker for 10 years in October 2016. Kroker killed a mother and three children last August when he was distracted by changing music on his smartphone and ploughed into a line of stationary traffic (reference 2) in his lorry.
A toughening of the punishments for such offences is welcomed by those surveyed by IAM RoadSmart. The charity found 94% of those asked felt that drivers checking or updating social media was a threat to their personal safety (reference 3).
Neil Greig, director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, said the charity has been calling for a technological solution to a problem caused by technology itself for many years, and welcomed the government’s new industry initiative.
Neil said: “It isn’t enough for the providers of this technology to simply say ‘it is up to the individual’. Every phone in use today already comes with a driving mode that can cut out calls, but they are very rarely used. This would suggest that ‘carrots or sticks’ may be needed to actually get people to use any new approach.
“Carrots could come in the form of incentives for companies to fit new apps or to ensure their employees switch off on the go. For example, no government contracts unless you have a ‘no mobile phone use’ policy in place.
“Sticks could come in the form of new penalties, but also links to insurance so your level of cover is reduced if you don’t have the new app switched on when you have a crash.”
He added: “The actual detail of the new technology will have to be worked out. But with accurate GPS and more sensitive movement sensors in most phones, it should be possible to target the driver’s phone whilst still allowing the ever growing range of connected car services such as sat-nav and traffic/tourist information. Passengers should still have the ability to use phones as well.”
Neil concluded: “IAM RoadSmart also wants to see the wider issue of distracted driving by technology being taken on board by the industry. The modern dashboard contains a wealth of new services that may assist drivers but can also distract. A star rating system for in-car complexity would be a useful tool to alert drivers to the different ways they now need to interact with their car.”
The issue was highlighted in IAM RoadSmart’s report The Battle for Attention, published in February last year (reference 4).
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Notes to editors
Reference 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37823457
Reference 4: https://www.iamroadsmart.com/media-and-policy/research-and-policy/research-details/don't-poke-me-i'm-driving
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IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.
To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com
To find out more about IAM RoadSmart’s Driver Retraining Academy visit www.iamdra.org.uk
To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups
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