A taxi driver in Singapore recently drove his taxi headfirst into a
rather deluxe condominium swimming pool! At the subsequent court case
the driver was fully exonerated from any blame on the grounds that it
was raining heavily at the time of the incident and (would you believe
it?) that no barriers were in place around the pool. If anybody was to
ponder over this scenario it would not be hard to conjure up a few
chinks and cracks in the stories armor. Well, swimming pools do not
normally reside directly in front of condominium entrances as those
living there tend not to favor passerby’s peering in! Oh, and who would
design it such that drunken residents, returning home from a night on
the town, are faced with an assault course before being allowed to
their apartment and to bed? I would also question the lack of lighting
around the driveway, the speed that the taxi was taking and his
knowledge of the area.
But going no further the driver was so obviously doing what millions of
other people are doing right now – he was concentrating away on his
cell phone, weaving and ducking around plant pots and over grass verges
and was not able to fully apply himself to staying on the driveway! A
point to back-up this reasoning is that Singaporean taxi-drivers always
ring the customers upon arrival at the pick-up point. So this driver
was without doubt struggling to call his future passengers to come
down, whilst paying little attention to the large sign that said
“swimming pool ahead"!
Mobile Phone usage by drivers on the move has increased world-wide.
Many officials, governments, safety bodies, other drivers and
pedestrians are becoming seriously worried about this modern
phenomenon. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
in the USA conducted a survey and came up with some startling and very
shocking data! The results showed that 1.2 million people or 8% of
drivers in the States were using handheld or hands free cell phones
during daylight hours in 2004 a 50% increase since 2002 and a 100% rise
in four years. Mr. Ray Tyson, a spokesperson for NHTSA shared his views
with us: while we don’t have hard evidence that there’s been an
increase in the number of crashes, we know that talking on the phone
can degrade driver performance". Thanks Ray for the enlightenment but
why did you restrict the survey to daylight hours only, do you expect
mobile phone wielding drivers to always tell the truth and why don’t
you have any hard evidence? Ray clearly reduced his statement to casual
observation status rather than committing himself or the NHTSA by
shouting out loudly to the world that the situation was reaching
disastrous proportions ………..etc!
Over in Japan recent statistics shine another bad light on the
situation. The Japanese Police produced some hard evidence (maybe they
should contact RAY) of 1140 car accidents that occurred in Japan during
a three month period in 1996! All of these accidents occurred due to
drivers being distracted by their mobile phones in one way or another.
In fact the police went a little bit further: 9 people died of these
accidents! 45% of these accidents happened while drivers attempted to
answer their ringing phones. 28% while drivers tried to combine driving
with dialing, 18% while the drivers were talking and the remaining 11%
due to other causes like scrambling under the seat to retrieve a
dropped phone having just swerved out of the path of an oncoming camper
van on cruise control!
Oh! And heading back to the Americas some objective Scientific Research
from some body in Toronto shows that the risk of being involved in a
traffic accident increases fourfold if a mobile phone is used whilst
driving! Thanks for that, maybe these scientists were spent some time
with Ray!
Zooming across the Atlantic, over the Middle East, China and to Taiwan!
A country that manufactures and has its hand in the production of many
electronic devices currently being used in the world today! As a
pedestrian crossing any road in Taiwan is similar to putting ones head
in the mouth of a lion, it is a dangerous event that most achieve by
closing ones eyes and with a rapidly beating heart just taking the
plunge – crossing the road that is! Recently this style of heart racing
adventure has just gotten a little bit better: drivers manically
wielding cell phones have dramatically increased the heart in mouth
adventure of trying to get to the other side! It is still similar to
putting ones head into a lion’s mouth, but a lion that has only just
finished chomping to death its keeper, that is being prodded by a child
with a stick between the bars and has been forced to listen to a mobile
phone users checking out is new ring tones!
There has never been a co-coordinated system of traffic flow in Taiwan
a total lack of respect for traffic lights and pedestrians exist and
weaving drivers on betel nut (a chewy nut that causes hyper activity
when chewed and drowsiness in-between chomps) just adds to the general
fun! Most pedestrians hug walls and sneak along with eyes working
overtime as potentially hazardous drivers are logged and tracked by a
well-developed brain radar system brought on by a desire for survival.
Only last week a bus zoomed by with a cargo of terrified children
peering helplessly and desperately out of the windows the driver was
happily conversing on his mobile whilst weaving an unstoppable course
through various red lights at well over the moral speed limit! Another
recent incident which in retrospect is quite hilarious was when two
moped drivers approached each other across an intersection. Their
speeds were not great and the whole scenario played out as if in slow
motion each was concentrating on their respective conversations, each
was weaving drunkenly forwards in fits and starts and as if
pre-ordained they collided head on. A tangled heap resulted but without
serious injury or damage. But what is even more hilarious is that both
individuals picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and without
acknowledging each other or scrambling to shift blame they both reached
around for the cell phones. And without pause they continued their
conversations – why let a mere traffic accident get in the way of a
call? Who knows, maybe they were talking to each before they crashed
and afterwards were busy obtaining each others insurance details – all
over the phone!
Even worse than being a pedestrian these days is to find oneself
sitting in the back of a taxi with driver who feels the urge to
converse not with you but with his mobile! Suddenly from being a normal
driver who bores his passengers to tears with stories of his economic
plight or Liverpool’s recent football score, emerges a maniac of WW11
convoy evasion tactical ability! The driver suddenly decides that any
action of the foot on the gas peddle must be immediately followed by
one on the brake and passengers find themselves alternately with their
heads embedded into the seat in front or their bodies lying twisted and
mangled against the rear window! From a driver, who although was
naturally aggressive in his driving managed with skill to avoid others,
emerges a monster. A massive monster who will play head on “who will
brake first" games with a speeding tank, who will assume that spaces
the size of a shopping trolley will mysteriously expand if he gets
enough speed up and who considers that all other drivers are mere
figments of his imagination! Indeed the mobile phone driving syndrome
situation is far worse than authorities, governments, Ray, the Japanese
Police and the bored or underpaid scientist’s state. This maybe due to
the fact that most of the above mentioned bodies and groups tend to use
their very own mobile phones whilst driving to work every day so
……….can’t make too much noise now can they! One country is stepping up
its efforts to clamp down on this new menace! The UK! As of 2005
drivers caught using mobile phones will be immediately fined 60 pounds
and have three penalty points on their driving licenses! In fact Ms
Janet Anderson, MP for Rose and Darwin ( a couple of houses in England
connected by a single lane dirt track) clapped her hands in delight
upon receiving a report that hands-free kits (once heralded as a safe
alternative) were nearly as dangerous as actual hand-held phones! She
went on a bit further to say that, “it must be made crystal clear to
drivers who insist on behaving in this way that they endanger the
safety of the public generally and their own safety too"! Yippee!
Still in the UK - recent tests at the Transport Research Laboratory
have shown that drivers on mobiles have a slower reaction time and
stopping time than those under the influence of alcohol! It does not
really take a team of highly paid scientists and many pounds later to
figure that one out: it is blatantly obvious that a driver under the
influence will be applying every ounce of his available concentration
on his driving, albeit slightly misguided, whilst a driver on his
mobile will not be concentrating at all! But the findings of this year
long study did place in writing some much needed data and statistics
that can now be used and wielded by those trying to clamp down on the
menace! At last some hard evidence!
Hopefully the future will change people’s attitudes regarding mobile
phone usage! Hopefully normal people will not feel the urge to be in
contact 24/7, will not suffer withdrawal symptoms should they be
disconnected for a nanosecond and be able to not answer a ringing phone
– in fact it would be superb if people could actually switch mobile
phones off sometimes!
But this is way, way, way into the future! As far away as us conversing
with aliens from the planet “zong" in the “xzihngty" galaxy about them
trying to eat us for breakfast! In the meantime it will be up to
governments and the introduction of new laws to clamp down on the
menace and thus make drivers think twice before answering or making
calls whilst on the move!
Maybe the answer is not to punish drivers through penalty points on
their license or the threat of paltry monetary fines:
“You have been found guilty by this court of talking on a cell phone
whilst driving. You will from this day forth not be allowed to own,
borrow, use or even look at a mobile phone, PDF or portable
communication device for a period of ten years. Additionally you will
complete three months of community service upon completion of which you
will attend counseling in “how to survive on this planet without being
in constant touch". Upon completion of this course you will then attend
a four week course titled, “how to use a phone that is connected to a
land line". Take him away boys!
The only crisis left to solve would then be to clamp down on those
drivers who insist on doing a full make-over in the rear-view mirror
whilst doing 60MPH through a built up area! To put a halt to business
men who assume that drivers’ seats are wonderful places to shave, rinse
and swallow! To convince short sighted people that, “cleaning ones
specs" by removing them and whilst navigating a hair bend in icy
conditions is not really sensible. Oh, and that various forms of sexual
attention might be pleasurable at the time but not when subsequently
wrapped around a lamppost or underneath an HGV still doing 60MPH down
the freeway!
When these drivers have had their shaving kits and make up bags
confiscated and are safely tucked away behind bars then it might be
safe for the average pedestrian to step foot outside once again and
with confidence, without fear of being mowed down by cars driven by
self-engrossed and selfish drivers who assume that the conversation
they are currently having is more important than life!
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information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
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