I look around me in the traffic and people are chatting, texting, reading messages, taking pictures and scrolling through Facebook on their cell phones.

I ask the question why? Why risk your life, your kids and the people around you?

It is crazy out there, the roads get busier every day, people drive recklessly and there is a sense of lawlessness. We blame the taxi drivers but we are all to blame; we all speed, we don’t stop at stop streets, we don’t keep a safe following distance and we talk on our cell phones.

You have to be focused, you have to have your wits about you. You have to be present whilst driving on the roads today.

I understand that there is congestion, there are traffic jams, it takes ages to get anywhere, we are all busy and in a hurry to get our destinations.

But, surely that call can be made when you stop your car or reach your destination? What can be so important that you will risk your life? Look around you, see those precious passengers in your car and the cars next to you. Value their lives and don’t use your cell phone while driving. Please!

Did you know it is illegal to drive and be on your cell phone? What are we teaching our kids about driving and also about honesty and breaking the law when we are on our cell phones? Is this a line that we are crossing about right and wrong?

Crashes not Accidents

Cape Talk and the Eye Witness News no longer call a car accident an accident, they call it a crash because on most occasions that ‘accident’ could have been prevented by the driver being more focused and driving more carefully. Think about it!

The Western Cape Government have the #ItCanWait road safety campaign on roadside billboards but where is the visible policing? Is it just me or is this common sense??

More traffic officers on the roads = less accidents and traffic offences

I want to put a question out there to a few people;

Firstly, the Traffic Police– I know you are understaffed and under resourced but please, please prioritize what you do. Visible policing works so get out there and let people see you. Let them know you are around and make them aware that if they are on their cell phones they will get caught. If drivers know that the chances that they will see a traffic officer on the road is very strong, they will not take a chance and they will do the right thing.

Secondly, the Insurance Companies– when a client of yours has been in a crash in their car and they were on the cell phone surely you should not pay their claim? They were acting illegally and they are in the wrong? I know this is a difficult thing to prove but shouldn’t this be specified in the fine print of your insurance contract?

As you can probably tell I am very passionate about this as I care about my life, my lives of my family members and yours. Most of the time I keep my phone in the boot of my car so I am not tempted to use it. If I have it in the car with me I ignore the call or message if it comes through while I am driving or I get the kids to answer it.

Perhaps leave a bit earlier for that appointment, add in extra time on to your journey, schedule your calls when you are at the office and scroll through your Facebook timeline when you are at home.

#putyourphonedown #itcanwait #distracteddriver #arrivealive #safety

No call, text, search, post, view, or email is worth a life. Keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone. You can help make the road a safer place and save lives.