Mobile Texting and Road Safety
Mobile technology has over the last couple of years seen exponential growth. Nowadays, just about everybody has a smartphone and texting has become a major means of communication -at the cost of road safety. People text at the office, at school, at home and even in their cars as they drive. Although texting has given us a more convenient, more affordable way of communicating, it has also led to an increase in road accidents and fatalities.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, nearly 700 people died on South Africa’s roads over the course of April 2015. The most crashes were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal. Approximately 116 fatal crashes resulting in 148 fatalities. Gauteng was second with 119 fatalities from 100 crashes.
Texting while driving has also had an impact on the country’s economy. The impact is estimated to be a staggering R307 billion a year. This represents between 8% and 10% of the country’s GDP.
As motorists, we must make a pledge to not text while driving. It hampers our judgement and has been the cause of many deaths on our roads. If there is a text message that you need to send, rather wait until you reach your destination and then send it or if it is an emergency and it’s absolutely necessary, look for a safe place to stop and only then, send your text message.
Be a WYZE driver. Do the WYZE thing – don’t text drive.
