Up to 30% of drivers in north Queensland have admitted to sending or reading a text message while driving, according to a series of media reports this week. 

 The Chief Executive Officer of AMTA, Chris Althaus, said the figure was alarming because research had found that drivers involved in the illegal activity of text messaging could have their eyes off the road for 12 seconds in each 30 second period.

Insurance company AAMI’s Crash Index provides a snapshot of drivers’ attitudes, driving behaviours and crash trends. It is based on analysis of AAMI’s claims data and a survey of 2400 licensed drivers in late 2006.

The AAMI research found that 18% of north Queensland drivers admitted to often using a mobile phone without a hands-free kit when driving and almost a third (30%) often sent or read a text message while driving.

Mr Althaus said: “It is very disturbing that some people claim they did not know that driving while text messaging is against the law. It is an extremely dangerous practice and puts others on the road at risk - so do the right thing and text before you get behind the wheel.”

According to the AAMI Crash Index drivers were faced by a range of distractions while driving – not just mobile phones. Six in ten drivers agreed that driving with young children in the back seat is very distracting. Half of all drivers admitted to being distracted by billboard while driving on busy roads.

Four in ten drivers have lost concentration while at the wheel while changing a CD, cassette tape or radio station. One in eight (12%) said their car stereo would often be loud enough for other drivers to hear even if they had their windows up.

Mr Althaus said authorities were justifiably concerned because driver distractions have been found to be one of the main causes of accidents around the world. In the United States the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had estimated that 20 to 30% of all fatal car accidents occur, in part, because the driver was distracted.

“Mobile phones are only one of the many distractions faced by drivers and all potential distractions must be considered and mobile phones should not be singled out,” he said.

In a letter published this week in the Gladstone Observer newspaper, he said that an American Automobile Association study analysed more than 32,000 traffic accidents caused by various driver distractions and found mobile phones contributed to only 1.5 percent of accidents. Drivers were most often distracted by something outside their vehicle (29.4 percent), followed by adjusting a radio or CD player (11.4 percent), talking with other occupants (10.9 percent), adjusting vehicle or climate controls (2.8 percent), eating or drinking (1.7 percent) and smoking (0.9 percent).

Recent Australian research, conducted by Monash University’s accident research centre, found the effects of distraction were more pronounced during car stereo tasks than during hands-free mobile phone tasks.

The mobile phone industry backed the findings of a recent Victorian Parliamentary Road Safety Committee of the need for more public awareness of the dangers of non-electronic distractions while driving.

The Committee’s report said although there had been much media focus on mobile phones use while driving, evidence showed that a range of everyday activities and events – both in-car and external – were likely to be major contributors to distraction-related crashes.

The Committee said there was a need for a greatly improved public awareness about the risks of distractions from passengers, looking at scenery, adjusting the radio, CD or air conditioning, eating, drinking and personal grooming.

Mr Althaus said the mobile telecommunications industry supported the Committee’s call for a campaign to make drivers more aware of the dangers of non-electronic distractions as well as mobile phones and to highlight the “everyday” distractions faced by drivers.

“We believe the State Governments should consider introducing safety materials on all distractions faced by drivers into driver education programs,” he said.

Mr Althaus said that by adhering to existing laws and some commonsense practices, drivers can make safe use of hands-free mobile phones while enjoying the substantial public safety and personal security benefits they provide.

“The industry acknowledges that the use of hands-free mobile devices is not a guarantee of safety in all conditions. While technology can help to address physical and visual demands of mobile phone use in vehicles, education is required to remind drivers not to be distracted by mobile phones while driving and reinforce the ban on hand-held use.”

Link to AMTA's Driving Tips