Bermuda must ban driving while using a cellphone

More than 50 countries have ­imposed a ban or restrictions on using a cellphone while driving, especially regarding texting.

The first to do so was Jersey, in the Channel Isles, back in 1998.

We have known in Bermuda for at least a decade that cellphone use was going to be an intolerable distraction for the motoring public but we have been slow to act.

Have you ever seen a motorbike rider fishing into their pocket for a ringing cellphone, holding it to one ear, looking at it to see who is calling, reading a text message and even pushing buttons — all while manoeuvring their bikes in traffic? I have — and it’s scary.

Safer

It is dangerous enough when people driving cars do this — the risk of crashing is multiplied when a driver is talking on the phone.

It’s more than doubly dangerous on a two-wheeled vehicle.

I used to think, as did many of us, that using a dash-mounted phone or a headset while driving was safer than a hand-held unit.

Recent research has changed my mind. Studies show that ­because phone conversations ­distract our brains, hands-free calls are just as likely to cause an accident as calls with a hand-held phone.

Using a cellphone on a moving motorbike is madness but it seems to be fashionable. If ever there was a case for nipping an activity in the bud, this is it.

There are many factors that are only going to make the practice more dangerous and hardly any that might make it less.

Speed on our roads is increasing. It shouldn’t be but it is.

What this means is that all road users will have less time to react to traffic situations.

Using a cellphone sidelines our attention and slows down our ­reaction times by 18 to 20 per cent.

More people have cellphones. Use has grown an estimated 15 per cent in the last 18 months, mostly among young people.

It is significant that young ­people are much more likely to be distracted.

Monkey see, monkey do. As with many other activities, when more people are seen doing something more are encouraged to ­follow suit. We can anticipate that a greater proportion of cellphone-owning road users will think it is okay to use their devices while driving.

Cellphones are becoming more engaging and more distracting.

The newer ones allow users to surf the Internet, send and ­receive e-mail and text messages, get online directions or even watch DVDs.

The research findings are ­chilling. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, people who use cellphones while driving are 400-500 per cent more likely to get into traffic accidents than those who do not use them.

Another study — sponsored by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and ­conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute — offers detailed evidence that inattentive driving causes accidents.

It labels cellphone use as the number one distraction for ­vehicle operators.

Bermuda’s police have warned that they will ticket people who use cellphones while operating a vehicle, charging them with ­driving without due care and ­attention.

Legislate

This needs to go a step further. Just as we have specific laws and penalties for driving under the ­influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI), we need language and laws that directly address cellphone use while operating a vehicle.

We must legislate specifically as there are obviously ­people who are not taking personal responsibility for their own safety or the safety of other road users.

This is not law designed to ­punish responsible people, it is law to protect us from irresponsible ones.

The use of cellphones while a vehicle is in motion has already been banned in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey Portugal, Singapore, Spain and the U.K., among others.

The research is in and is ­conclusive. Let’s act now for the common good.