Cell Phones use in Vehicles - Are They a Safety Hazard?

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Cell Phones use in Vehicles - Are They a Safety
Hazard?
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Do You Drink Alcohol and Drive ?
Do You talk on a Phone While Driving?
What's the Connection?
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Both Activities Could Kill You
Or Kill Some Other Innocent Person
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Countless Studies have been done in the past
decade and all have conclusively found that
talking on a cell phone while driving increases
the risk of an accident by as much as 4 times.
The increased risk is compared to driving while
impaired by alcohol.
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Cell Phones
Car Phones
Mobile Phones
Bat Phones
Shoe Phones
No matter what you call it, the issues are the
same
There are times to have and need a phone and
times when not to use them
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Positives of Cell Phones
Call for help with disabled vehicle
Call for help when lost
Call for help when stuck
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Positives of Cell Phones
Call to 911 to report an accident
Call to report aggressive drivers
Call to police when in danger
Call if late for appointment
Call to report drunk drivers
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Negatives of Cell Phones
In-car distraction
Increased response time
Increased cases of non-response
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Hands Free Vs. Hand Held

• Believe it or not, It is not the dexterity
  required to use a cell phone that causes the
  increased risk of a crash, but the drivers
  ability to allocate attention

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Hands Free Vs. Hand Held

• Put another way,
• It is not whether you have both hands on the
  wheel that matters, but rather whether you have
  all of your mind on the task at hand, that being
  Driving

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Cell Phones Vs. Conversation with a Passenger

• A passenger can also see the high risk situations
  developing and stop the conversation.
• Conversations on cell phones tend to be more
  intense than face to face.
• While talking on the phone your mind tends to
  wander to the setting at the other end of the
  phone line.

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Whats Coming in 2001

• More and more countries have already instituted
  laws restricting the use of cell phones while
  driving ( e.g. Brazil, Israel, Switzerland,
  Malaysia, Singapore)
• Lawyers are preying on accident victims and using
  verifiable cell phone use to prove a condition of
  negligence.
• New higher tech phones are adding many more
  features which will take the drivers mind even
  further away from driving.

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An Age Old Issue

• Age plays a major factor in the increased risk of
  using cell phones while driving.
• While on the phone, drivers over 50 years are 2-3
  times more apt than younger drivers to not
  respond in time, if they respond at all, to
  dangerous situations.

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The Survey Says

• 81 of drivers believe that it is dangerous to
  use cell phones while driving.
• 61 of them admitted that they still do it.
• 30 of them admitted to talking on the phone
  frequently.

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Conclusions from the Studies

• All forms of cell phone usage lead to significant
  increases in non-response to highway situations
  and increases in response times.
• Complex intense conversations lead to the
  greatest increase in risk
• Business calls tend to be more intense than
  social calls.

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Conclusions from the Studies

• The distracting effect of cell phone usage among
  drivers over age 50 is two to three times as
  great as that of younger drivers
• Prior experience with cell phones appears to bear
  no relation to the distracting effect of cell
  phone use.

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Schlumberger Cell Phone Standard

• Schlumberger employees shall not initiate calls
  while driving irrespective of the type of phone.
• If a phone call is received while driving, the
  employee shall identify the caller, and terminate
  the call immediately. If a return call is
  required the driver shall pull over at the first
  available safe rest stop and then return the call.

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Testimonial

• Last year a Schlumberger driver was traveling in
  heavy traffic on a Louisiana highway when his
  phone rang. He asked one of his 4 passengers to
  answer it. Just seconds after the passenger
  answered, the truck in front stopped sharply. The
  SLB driver immediately noticed a vehicle
  approaching from the rear at a high rate of
  speed. The driver was able to brake suddenly and
  swerve onto the shoulder just before the
  following vehicle plowed into the back of the
  slowing truck. The other vehicle and driver were
  in bad shape after the collision.
• If the SLB driver had taken the time to answer
  his phone he probably would not have recognized
  the sudden dangers and may have been seriously
  rear-ended, potentially injuring all four
  occupants

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Look Closely. Can you spot the real dummy!
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Questions

• Does your company have a cell phone policy?
• If not, who will write one?
• Independent of company policy what will you
  choose to do in your personal life?
• Will you honestly lead by example, not just with
  your employees but more importantly with your
  loved ones?