Photo credit: Irita Kirsbluma
It seems that a week doesn’t go by without us being told about the dangerous things which we need to avoid doing while driving. First it was drinking, then taking drugs, then eating, then cutting our toenails.
Thankfully the latest one is something you won’t ever find me doing. That’s because it is all about being distracted by smartphones and I ain’t got one.
I remember when pay as you go mobile phones came out. It was the Christmas gift that everyone had to give. I bought one for my Mum, my sister bought me one, My Mum bought us both one and even my old Gran chipped in with one for each of us. Before long our house had more mobile phones than people in it.
While the rest of the world still seems enthralled by phones you can carry about, I just can’t see what all the fuss is about. At first I was intrigued by the ring tones and then I got hooked on a couple of the games. That must have been well over 10 years ago, and yet there are still lots of people who sit and stare at their phones as though they are looking at the latest and most staggering invention since the doughnut with cream inside it.
A Dangerous Addiction
Now it seems that being addicted to your phone is dangerous as well as being possibly a bit silly. The RAC have warned that people between the ages of 25 and 44 are most at risk of being distracted by this “new breed of motoring offence”.
Over 40% of the 1000 drivers who were surveyed said that they would be pleased to see illegal mobile phone use banned when behind the wheel. Rather strangely, even more people felt that they are less safe on the roads than ever before. It seems that we want more police on the roads and more chance of traffic law offenders being caught.
