Following the recent international awareness month of driving while distracted (DWD), positive news from the City of Cape Town has been shared. The City revealed that between July 2022 and June 2024, impoundments of cellphones reduced by 16%. Cellphone-related offences also dropped by 11.5%.
The City of Cape Town attributed this reduction to a combination of increased access to in-vehicle technology as well as greater compliance from drivers. The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says: “This decrease in cellphone usage while driving in the City of Cape is encouraging that change may be on the horizon.
“It would be even more encouraging if the same decrease were seen throughout the country. This information is not readily available, however, making it difficult to obtain a precise understanding of where the country as a whole stands. If one were to go on the information released by a South African insurer, it indicates that 60% of drivers still use their phones while driving,” he says.
Several regulation changes expected to be implemented in 2025 may help bring about the behavioural change needed to reduce DWD throughout the country. “The revised regulation will impose higher financial penalties on those caught using their phones while driving. It will also be expanded to include penalties for drivers using their phones while stationary at traffic lights.
“If drivers are repeatedly penalised for DWD offences, further action will be taken. They can be required to attend mandatory driving behaviour correction courses. This is a more proactive approach to changing driver behaviour than fining drivers and hoping that they will take the financial implications seriously enough to never do it again,” Eugene remarks.
The third Safety Survey conducted by USA publications, Heavy Duty Truck and Work Truck, found that driver training is one of the five most effective strategies identified in successfully increasing road safety. Additionally, driver training is also essential to more effectively implementing other safety strategies, including anti-DWD strategies.
“The other strategies (vehicle maintenance, implementing written policies and procedures, strict hiring standards and the creation of a safety culture) all rely on driver training in varying degrees to reach optimal effectiveness in creating safer roads.
“The decrease reported by the City of Cape Town, along with potential changes to regulations and strict organisational DWD policies, will give the commitment to decreasing DWD the priority it needs. We trust that these steps in the right direction will provide a more effective means of stopping further use of cellphones and, consequently, reduce distracted driving as well,” says Eugene.
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