Little evidence distracted driving laws work: WHO
Posted September 21, 2016 9:10 am.
Last Updated September 21, 2016 9:11 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – You see them behind the wheel every time you’re on the road, someone talking or texting with their phone in their hand, so maybe it’s no surprise the World Health Organization has found little evidence distracted driving laws are actually working.
The latest release from the WHO reinforces the organization’s position that governments need to take an even more proactive approach to the problem.
A September factsheet on road traffic injuries points out dozens of countries have brought in laws banning texting or talking on a handheld phone while driving — some even for hands-free devices — but there has been little sign they are working, suggesting enforcement is a challenge.
The head of an anti-distracted driving group based in Victoria isn’t surprised. “Provinces are trying so many approaches to deal with the issue and it’s not working,” says Karen Bowman, executive director of Drop It and Drive. “We are still seeing this as a prevalent behaviour among the population and we don’t have the data yet to show why we are still seeing this. There is a massive gap between the understanding of the risk involved and choosing to take that risk anyways,” she tells NEWS 1130.
Bowman believes there needs to be a multi-pronged approach to preventing distracted driving. “There is no one solution to this issue, it’s too complex. I think it’s a bit of a pipe dream to think that if we raise fines high enough, that will be the solution. It has to be a number of different factors working together.”
That includes changing attitudes toward using hand-held devices while driving. “It’s not a technology-based problem, it’s behavioural,” says Bowman. “You have to educate the public. When you’ve got the research, you get it. There’s nothing that would tempt me to go near my phone — handheld or hands free — while I’m driving because I understand the science behind it and I understand the risk factors.”
Overall, drivers using a mobile phone are approximately 4 times more likely to be involved in a crash than when a driver does not use a phone with hands-free phones not much safer than hand-held devices.
The WHO says young drivers are at particular risk of the effects of distraction caused by texting while driving.
BC currently has among the stiffest distracted driving laws and fines in Canada.
