Bituminous Insurance Companies
Release Date: May 21, 2010
The rapid increase in cell phone use around the world threatens to exacerbate an already worsening traffic fatality rate worldwide. Currently, it is estimated that road crashes claim 1.3 million lives each year; the equivalent of one death every 30 seconds. By 2030, the World Health Organization projects that traffic crashes will climb from the ninth to the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. The vast majority of road crashes result from preventable driver behavior.
With approximately 600 million passenger cars on the road today and 4.6 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide, drivers talking and texting behind the wheel is becoming a growing public safety threat. Research has shown that distracted drivers are about four times as likely to be involved in a crash as those who are focused on driving and drivers who are texting are more than 20 times more likely to crash than non-distracted drivers. In 2008, it is estimated that nearly 6,000 people were killed and more than half a million were injured in crashes involving distracted driving in the United States.
On May 19, 2010, in a speech at the United Nations (U.N.), Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated "We are seeing a major emerging challenge of driver distraction, mainly by using mobile phones. Together we have a message to all drivers of the world--don't let using a mobile for a few seconds make you and others immobile for life." He issued a directive, to more than 40,000 U.N. staff, barring employees from texting behind the wheel while driving U.N-owned vehicles.
Similarly, President Obama signed an Executive Order last fall prohibiting nearly 4 million U.S. government employees from texting while operating government-owned cell phones, vehicles, or while on official business. Many other governments are also moving to put an end to distracted driving. To date, 32 countries – including Russia, Brazil, France, Japan, Jordan, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom – have passed laws that restrict drivers' use of handheld devices. Portugal has outlawed all phone use – hand-held or hands-free – in the driver's seat.
The U.S. Department of Transportation also hosts an official U.S. government website devoted to anti-distraction news and information at www.distraction.gov.
COPYRIGHT ©2010, ISO Services Properties, Inc.
The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ISO Services Properties, Inc., its companies and employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with either the information herein contained or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedure.