Good driving means concentrating on the road and paying full attention to your surroundings. But concentrating on the road does not merely mean looking at it when your mind is somewhere else as you talk to someone on your mobile phone. This week, at Bahrain This week, we have a topic that’s very important and must be discussed; no phone usage & wearing a seat belt!
A mobile phone can be a driver’s undoing because using it while driving is like sleep-walking on the road. One is there but actually not there. Driving, especially in cities, is a matter of absolute attention and concentration, something not achievable if the driver keeps himself busy talking over his phone.
The rule is simple- when you are driving, let the phone ring and you can always call back once you have arrived at your destination. If you reckon the call is unavoidable and has to be taken, look for a lay-by, park your car and do all the talking.
When on the phone, you might inadvertently jump the red light, not notice that pedestrian crossing the road, be lax with your controls and bump into the vehicle ahead, enter the ‘yellow box’ and get stranded, and get into many other avoidable situations.
When one is on the phone and is driving, his tendency also is to slow down which can be quite annoying to the driver behind you, especially if you are in the fast lane. This could eventually lead to a road-rage situation which is best avoided.
A habit as bad as using the phone while driving is driving without wearing the seat belt. There is a law of physics that says that when you are riding in a vehicle, your body’s ‘speed’ is the same as the speed of the vehicle. In other words, if your car were to hit another car while you are cruising at 100km/ hour the impact will result in your head hitting the windscreen with all the force of an object approaching it at 100km/ hour. Unless of course, you are wearing a seat belt, in which case the belt will keep you pinned to your back-rest. You might still suffer injuries but they would be minor compared to the disastrous ones in case you are not wearing the belt.