The number of traffic accidents that were reported between 2019 to 2020 was 9,701, including both fatal and non-fatal accidents, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The causes of these accidents were various ranging from negligence in obeying traffic rules to fulfilling road safety requirements. Another cause that has emerged since the last decade as one of the most frequently reported reasons for accidents across the globe is using a cellphone while driving. Drivers who use handheld phones while driving put themselves as well as other travellers at risk and traffic departments in different countries are imposing serious penalties on the offenders.
To uplift the law and ensure the safety of drivers on the roads, the Islamabad Traffic Police Department has decided to make use of a cellphone while driving as a serious offence which shall be charged heavily. In this blog, you will find the details of the initiative of the ITP and the risks of distracted driving.
Why Is Using a Cellphone While Driving A Bad Idea?
Islamabad Traffic Police department has proposed to add the use of cellphones while driving under the heading of serious offences which will also result in hefty fines. Earlier, no proper category was defined for this offence and all the offenders were fined under ‘other miscellaneous offences’. The request has been made to the cabinet division and the decision to make it official is still pending.
Since the beginning of the year 2021, Islamabad Traffic Police has fined more than 15,000 drivers who were using a cellphone while driving. Once distracted driving becomes a serious offence, the number of fines will also be changed. Currently, a fine of PKR 300 is being charged to the offenders, however, this will be revised to PKR 1,000 for motorcyclists, PKR 1,500 for car drivers and PKR 2,000 for public transport drivers.
The biggest challenge for the traffic police is to educate people on the risks of using cell phones while they are driving. The public is already aware of the danger they put themselves and others on the road when they decide to check that one notification, a text or receive a call while they are driving.
What Is Distracted Driving?
Distraction in driving could be anything that takes your focus away from the road while you are driving. Broadly, distractions can be divided into three categories; visual, manual and cognitive. It can be reading a map, eating a snack, texting, reading a notification, calling someone, taking your eyes off the road to talk to other passengers and thinking too deeply among various other distractions. It only takes a fraction of a second to be distracted and crash your vehicle.
What Should You Do?
People who use a cellphone while driving are not the only ones who are at risk, in fact, other travellers on the road may also be endangered. Hitting another vehicle is the least that can happen but in worst-case scenarios, it may also involve casualties.
Roads are not safe unless people drive responsibly. The risk of such incidents is higher with teens and young adults who are easily distracted by a phone call, a notification or an email. There is a lot that one can do as a driver, a passenger and a parent to prevent this from happening and minimizing the risk.
What Should Drivers Do?
No text message, call, notification or snack is more important than life. As a driver, one must never multitask while being behind the wheel and even if there is an emergency, park the vehicle on the side of the road, turn hazard lights on and attend to the need. This way you are ensuring your own safety as well as the safety of other drivers.
What Should Passengers Do?
As a passenger, you can ask the driver to be focused at all times while driving and take away anything that may be a cause of distraction. If you see the driver using a cellphone, speaking up is what you must do because if you don’t, the risk will keep increasing and the driver will feel encouraged. What you can do to reduce distractions is help in navigating, answer a call and ask them to stop the car on the side of a road if they urgently need to use a phone or shift their focus from the road.
What Can Parents Do?
Children and teens listen, observe and follow what their parents do. Mostly, it is parents who teach youngsters the basics of driving and tell them about rules they must follow to stay away from trouble. As a parent, setting the right example for them to follow is the best you can do. Educate them on the laws, traffic rules and consequences of violating those rules. It is essential to tell them that driving is a skill that requires the complete attention of the driver and even the slightest negligence can prove to be fatal.
Efforts Of Traffic Police Departments
The traffic police departments in Pakistan are doing their best to maintain peace and a safer environment on the road. Islamabad has already launched an e-challan system under the safe city project and a similar system for e-challan in Lahore is also functional. The new development of adding distracted driving under serious offences in Islamabad will also prove to be effective in making roads even safer for travelling.
Islamabad Traffic Police department has also asked to hire more human resources for better and effective monitoring of traffic, law enforcement and education. Currently, the strength of the traffic staff in Islamabad is 685 who perform duties in different categories which are VVIP movements, pilot duties for dignitaries, traffic regulation, licensing, education and enforcement. Considering the population of Islamabad today, the current staff is not enough to perform all these duties which results in a lack of enforcement.
The department has requested to increase the staff to 2,600 plus personnel who will be engaged in performing these duties in a better way resulting in better law enforcement and traffic regulation.
A senior police official also said that there is no text or a social media post that needs a response if someone is behind the wheel driving. It is not only the people who are involved in accidents that are affected but also their families whose lives change. This is all about the dangers and consequences of using a cellphone while driving. If you are looking for more lifestyle-related topics, visit Zameen Blog for authentic and helpful content. You can also get in touch with us or leave us feedback at blog@zameen.com.
