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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

iPods and Mobile phones 'behind Surge in Road

BUYING GUIDE.

Texting while driving and listening to iPods are increasingly to blame for fatal road accidents, according to safety campaigners. They claim young drivers in particular ignore new laws introduced in 2003 that make using a mobile phone while at the wheel illegal.

A major safety conference will be told today that more young drivers are dying on Britain's roads than 15 years ago. Tune into Traffic also claim young people are more likely to die in a car crash than to be stabbed, abused or neglected.

Overall death rates on the roads have fallen by a third since the mid-1990s but 16 per cent more 16-19-year-olds drivers are being killed today. Campaigners want new initiatives on road safety to focus on the dangers of texting or fidding with an iPod while driving or cycling.

Tune into Traffic, an online campaign group, wants the Green Cross Code's traditional 'Stop, Look, Listen' message to be updated. It insists young drivers need to be warned about the dangers of listening to music and not being alert while at the wheel.

Founder Manpreet Darroch said: Road traffic collisions are the biggest cause of death among young people and, from our own observations and what young people are telling us, the distraction posed by these devices is huge.'

He added: 'Road traffic collisions are the biggest single cause of death among young people in Britain and the world and we're asking Government to take notice of the way modern lifestyles are contributing to that horrible fact.'

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner warned about the dangers of iPods in 2008 after the death of a cyclist while she was listening to the device.Abigail Haythorne, 17, died of severe head injuries after she cycled into the path of an oncoming car, apparently without noticing it.

The coroner said: 'I would urge cyclists to reserve their hearing and not to use their earphones while using the roads.'Jordan Bell, 14, also died in 2008 after she failed to look up while crossing the road and stepped out in front of a car while listening to her iPod.

Delegates at the World Safety Conference in London will also suggest that young drivers should be banned from driving at night or unsupervised with friends.

Researchers at Cardiff University claim 'graduated driver licensing' for 17 to 19-year-olds could save more than 200 lives and avoid 1,700 serious injuries a year.

The system, already in place in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and parts of the U.S., means the young drivers obtain their licence but can only drive under certain conditions. Researcher Sarah Jones said: 'Most people in this country know someone who has been touched by the death or injury of a young driver.

'GDL works in other countries and there's no good reason why it wouldn't work here - the cost ot eh NHS would be significantly reduced.'

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents supports the call for drivers and road users to avoid being distracted by music and mobile phones.
But it warned against the practical problems of introducing a graduated licence, which would be complicated to police.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'We urge young professionals to give the road their full attention and we promote the Tune into Traffic campaign through our THINK! materials for use in schools.'


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