«Latest  ‹Forward   News item: 2479  Back›  Oldest» 

Military bans cellphones while driving due to 300% increased crash risk
Canada Created: 14 Nov 2007
The Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) initiative to ban the use of cell phones while driving was first sanctioned at a Formation Risk Management Council meeting in January 2002.

Soliciting input from all stakeholders and achieving a consensus on the policy has been, understandably, a lengthy process. Only now are we in the final stages of promulgating and implementing the policy by modifying an existing Base Standing Order on driving safety.

Mounting evidence has established that the use of cellular phones while driving is dangerous. Numerous recent studies have confirmed that conversing on a cell phone, either hand-held or hands-free, leads to a significant reduction in driving performance. One study, conducted by the Transportation Safety Laboratory of Université de Montréal, quantifies the crash risk as a 38 per cent increase. Many other studies have been conducted and their results indicate an increase in crash risk of between 30 and 300 per cent.

One problem in determining if the use of cell phones is a significant factor in vehicular accidents is a lack of “real world” data. However, there is some convincing anecdotal evidence that is becoming hard to refute. Take, for example, the results of an Ontario coroner’s inquest earlier this year into the death of a man and his two-year-old child. Both were killed when a train at a rail crossing struck their vehicle. The man was talking on a cell phone at the time of the accident. The coroner’s recommendations included a call to ban the use of cell phones while driving.

Often, use of cell phones by drivers is not identified as the root cause of a vehicle accident or even a contributing cause unless it is painfully obvious, such as a dead body at a crash scene, behind the wheel, clutching a cell phone. Within MARPAC, the Formation Risk Management Council has accepted the existing evidence and has sanctioned the cell phone ban while driving. We are not going to wait until we have a body on MARPAC property with the cell phone up to the ear to take action.

Base Standing Order 2-900 will prohibit the use of cellular phones by operators of DND vehicles while the vehicle is in motion, whether on DND property or not. In addition, all drivers, including military and civilian personnel, contractors, visitors and all others who enter MARPAC property, are prohibited from using cellular phones while the vehicle is in motion. Drivers must stop the vehicle safely at the side of the road prior to conduct conversations over cellular phones.

Many individuals, cell phone companies and organizations who have come out against banning the use of cell phones while driving argue that they are but one of many distractions that interfere with driving. The logic of that argument does not stand up to scrutiny.

In essence, it postulates that because there are so many driving distractions already, why should we ban this relatively new one. It’s an argument that many countries have rejected, including Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Austria, Finland, Portugal, Belgium, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Chile, Israel, and South Africa, which have all implemented a ban on using cell phones while driving. New York State has similar legislation and there are a number of states and Canadian provinces that are considering such legislation.

It’s a basic driving rule at MARPAC - “Stop to Talk!”
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Victoria Lookout, Don MacLean, 13 Nov 2007

«Latest  ‹Forward   News item: 2479  Back›  Oldest»