Forty percent of drivers say that even if they caused a collision, it would not stop them using cell phones while driving, according to new research.
You can read much more about this research, and the fact that it is from the RAC in Britain, should by no means lead to it being dismissed as irrelevant in the USA simply because it’s not from America. Clearly, problems of this nature are immensely dangerous worldwide and we should all be looking to learn from our international contemporaries.
The excessively high proportion of drivers who make this outrageous claim that even causing a collision wouldn’t stop them making calls when driving needs to be taken very seriously indeed. It is in some ways similar to the old attitude towards drunk driving in Britain but a persistent and calculated programme to defeat the problems from drinking and driving has proved extremely successful at changing the overall attitude in the UK so this would appear to be the route we need to follow once more.
Since March 1, 2017, drivers in Britain have faced stricter penalties for illegal handheld phone use, with both the higher fine of £200 (US $260) and number of penalty points being doubled to six (meaning that anyone caught committing this offence twice within a three-year period would almost certainly be disqualified/suspended from driving).
Make it a criminal charge and seize the phone. Nothing short of this will work.
Agreed, Bill.