The distraction from using a mobile phone while driving can be far greater than many people realise and just because you might use handsfree doesn’t make it safe. Dr Gemma Briggs from the open university explains about Cognitive Distraction and how your brain behaves when using a phone whilst driving, plus we’ll talk to one driver for whom it all went wrong – and the distraction caused him to crash, killing another road user.
Cheshire is home to Sgt Neil Dewson-Smyth, the founder of the #DontStreamAndDrive campaign, and part of the Project EDWARD team. Follow him on Twitter during Project EDWARD week @SgtTCS
Can you really multitask?
Finally, an answer
Quiz: Are you a
Focused Driver?
Can you count
all the cars?
Dr Gemma Briggs Explains
Driving Distraction
Not paying attention
behind the wheel?
Having your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road isn’t enough if your mind is on your phone. Driving Change is a Open University initiative producing evidence-based research to explain the dangers of distracted driving.
Do laws on phone use whilst driving fully reflect scientific knowledge?
Don’t Stream & Drive
Sgt Neil Dewson-Smyth is the founder of the #DontStreamAndDrive campaign. Unfortunately, as you will see from the Operation Tramline camera footage from the first Project EDWARD stop in Warwickshire, people who think they can stream and drive are more common that you might think.
Sadly we continue to see fatalities as a consequence of this behaviour. Many drivers are oblivious to the dangers and risks this presents. More worrying are those drivers who recognise the dangers but livestream anyway in the mistaken belief they are a ‘good’ driver.
Distracted Driving
What employees and employers
need to know
An Open University Driving Change
presentation by Dr Gemma Briggs
Share your support and your stories with us on social media using
#ProjectEDWARD
Are you a business owner or fleet manager?
Driving for Work: Mobile Phones
A short guide from RoSPA explaining how to prevent inappropriate mobile phone use on the road by employees
High mileage and company car drivers are more likely than most to use a mobile phone while driving, and very often they are using the phone for work purposes. However, a substantial body of research proves that using a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone while driving is a significant distraction that substantially increases the risk of crashing. Although using a hand-held phone causes the greatest distraction, using a hands-free phone does not significantly reduce the risk.
