In an interview with FMT, Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement director Mahamad Akhir Darus said the six main causes of road accidents in the country were the use of mobile phones while driving, driving on the emergency lane, speeding, running a red light, cutting the queue and crossing double lines.
He was commenting on a recent viral video of an express bus driver using a mobile phone and smoking while driving to the Tangkak toll in Johor from Kuala Lumpur.
Mahamad said the use of mobile phones while driving was not only highly irresponsible but dangerous.
“Just reading a text while driving, which takes your eyes off the road for even a few seconds can lead to fatal accidents.”
Mahamad said many fatal accidents stemmed from the use of mobile phones while driving, but exact figures were not presently available as the focus of investigations into major accidents was on whether an offending driver was careless and inconsiderate as stipulated under Section 43 of the Road Transport Act 1987.
Road safety expert Karen Goonting says people do not understand just how dangerous it is to text and drive.
Citing an American study in 2009, Goonting said a driver who keyed in a text message or read a text message while driving was 23 times more likely to cause or be involved in an accident.
The study, titled 100 Car Studies was carried out by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Virginia Transportation Research Council and Virginia Tech.
She added motorists using their mobile phones while driving tended to be more error prone compared to those talking to passengers or listening to music.
“They are more likely to drift out of lanes, miss exits, run red lights, rear-end the vehicle in front of them and even knock down pedestrians.”
“In fact, the act of reading or sending an SMS and taking your eyes off the road for even two seconds while driving at 88 km per hour is like driving the length of a football field blindfolded.”