Harrowing Footage Shows Why You Should Never Use Your Mobile While Driving

By : On : 23 Oct 2017 17:37
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Department for Transport

If a driver travelling at 30mph glances at their phone for just 2.3 seconds – about the time it takes to pick up a WhatsApp or chuckle at a meme – they miss 100 feet of road.

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That is the same length as a Boeing 737.

The government know tens of thousands of British drivers flout the law and endanger lives by doing just that when they get behind the wheel.

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Department for Transport

So they’ve decided to do something about it.

Joining forces with the creative team behind Pharrell Williams’ Happy video, the Department for Transport have released a new campaign which taps into our millennial obsession with our mobile phones, while warning of the dangers of driving while distracted.

You can watch the harrowing footage below:

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Jesse Norman, Road Safety Minister, said:

We have some of the safest roads in the world, but we are always looking at ways to make them even safer. But the awful truth is that tens of thousands of drivers are still flouting the law and endangering others by using a handheld mobile phone at the wheel.

This eye-catching advert demonstrates how dangerous looking at your phone for just two seconds can be and the devastating impact it can have on other road users.

In March 2017, penalties for using a handheld mobile while driving were doubled to a £200 fine and six penalty points.

Experienced drivers caught twice face a lengthy ban – which could also lead to a £1,000 fine – while new drivers who have passed within the last two years, face having their licence revoked if caught just once.

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More than 15,000 fines have been issued to drivers using a handheld phone since the new penalties were introduced.

Department for Transport

RAC road safety spokesman, Pete Williams, said:

The RAC’s latest research reveals that the problem is still at epidemic proportions with a hard core of drivers persisting in texting, talking, tweeting and even taking photos at the wheel.

We therefore welcome THINK!’s thought-provoking video, which highlights the dangers of a two-second glance at your phone while driving.

Motorists risk a collision with potentially fatal consequences which could change their life, and the lives of others, forever.

Department for Transport

Williams added:

We hope that this will help persuade more drivers to put away their handheld mobile phone for good when driving and be phone smart.

Since the March 2017 campaign, awareness of the penalties increased by 89 per cent, with 47 per cent of people who had seen the adverts saying they were less likely to use their phone when driving as a result.

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Roads Policing, said:

Driving while distracted by a mobile phone is completely unacceptable and puts everyone on the roads at risk of serious harm.

Police are making use of the tougher penalties to clamp down on this dangerous behaviour – but we have to be clear that when you get behind the wheel it is your responsibility to stay focused and alert.

The campaign is targeted at 17 to 34-year-olds, as they are three times more likely than over 35s to use a handheld mobile while driving.

THINK! is urging Android smartphone users to download the Car Mode app or if using an iPhone, its ‘drive safe mode’, which automatically detects when you’re driving, and silences incoming calls and messages.

Whatever it is, it can probably wait. Why take the risk with your life and the lives of others?

Bangham added:

It only takes a few seconds of distraction to change lives forever.

THINK! Don’t drive distracted.