scholarly journals Mobile phone use among commercial drivers in Ghana: An important threat to road safety

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Isaac Donkor ◽  
Adam Gyedu ◽  
Anthony K Edusei ◽  
Beth E. Ebel ◽  
Peter Donkor
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Road Safety ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Distracted Driving ◽  
Driving Under The Influence ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
Mobile Phone Use ◽  
Commercial Drivers ◽  
The Law

Background: Ghana passed a law in 2012 banning the use of mobile phones while driving. However, data on compliance to the law has been lacking.Objective: To examine factors associated with mobile phone use while driving among Ghanaian commercial drivers.Methods: A survey was conducted among 627 commercial drivers (98.0% response rate). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to determine how a priori covariates influenced commercial drivers’ use of phones while driving. The covariates included driver age, education, driving route distance, driving under the influence (DUI), and knowledge that phone use during driving causes distraction.Results: Respondents were aware of the law (94.7%) but compliance was low (38%). Drivers who did not believe that cell phone use contributed to crash risk were more likely to report distracted driving (AOR 2.02,95%CI 1.05-3.9). Drivers who had completed primary (AOR 4.49,95%CI 1.14-17.78) or at least senior high school (AOR 6.89,95%CI 1.5-31.59) had increased odds of using the phone while driving, compared to those having no formal education. Drivers with 6-10 years (AOR 2.00,95%CI 1.00-3.98) or >10 years driving experience (AOR 2.87,95%CI 1.24-6.62) were more likely to report distracted driving compared to those with ≤5 years’ experience. Drivers who travelled longer distances were more likely to report distracted driving (AOR 2.41,95%CI 1.23-4.71). Those who had never engaged in DUI were less likely to use the phone while driving (AOR 0.06,95%CI 0.01-0.43).Conclusion: Future prevention efforts for distracted driving in Ghana will require targeted distracted driving enforcement and education for commercial drivers and their passengers. Funding: This study was funded, in part, by a grant (D43-TW007267) from the Fogarty International Center, US National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Keywords: Mobile phone, commercial drivers, Ghana, road safety, distracted driving

scholarly journals DISTRACTED DRIVING: MOBILE PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING IN THREE MEXICAN CITIES

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A73.1-A73
Author(s):  
R Pérez-Nuñez ◽  
JD Vera-López ◽  
M Hijar ◽  
E Hidalgo-Solórzano ◽  
JC Lunnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Distracted Driving ◽  
Mobile Phone Use

Road Safety and Mobile Phone Behaviors

2015 ◽  
pp. 1356-1365
Author(s):  
Junaid Ahmad Bhatti
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Road Safety ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Mobile Phone Use ◽  
Vehicle Collision ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Lane Position ◽  
The Impact

Mobile phone use while driving is one of the major road safety risks. In surveys from different settings, the rate of mobile phone use while driving ranged from 1 to 11%. Literature from observational and experimental studies show that driving capacities such as reacting to traffic hazards, maintaining a central lane position, maintaining a safe distance and speed are negatively affected when using a mobile phone while driving. Several epidemiological studies suggest that motor vehicle collision risks increase by two to nine times when using a mobile phone (handheld or hands-free) compared to not using the phone while driving. Considering these findings, almost three-quarters of the countries have adopted legislation banning the use of handheld mobile phone devices while driving. These interventions, however, are insufficient to deal with the use of hands-free mobile phones while driving and texting which are challenging to ascertain and prevent. Currently, “in-vehicle” and collision avoidance technologies are being evaluated to further reduce the impact of these road menaces in our society.

scholarly journals Distracted driving prevention: an analysis of recent UK campaigns

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svenja Diegelmann ◽  
Katharina Ninaus ◽  
Ralf Terlutter
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Road Safety ◽  
Fear Appeals ◽  
Fear Appeal ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mobile Phone Use ◽  
Explicit Theory ◽  
Message Structure ◽  
Campaign Message ◽  
Theory Use

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze message features of fear appeals in current British road safety campaigns directed against mobile phone use while driving and to discuss barriers to explicit theory use in campaign message design. Design/methodology/approach This message-centred research takes a qualitative content analytical approach to analyze nine British web-based road safety campaigns directed against mobile phone use while driving based on the extended parallel process model. Message content and message structure are analyzed. Findings There still exists a gap between theory and road safety campaign practice. The study reveals that campaigns with fear appeals primarily use threatening messages but neglect efficacy-based contents. Severity messages emerge as the dominant content type while self-efficacy and response efficacy are hardly represented. Fear appeal content in the threat component was mainly communicated through the mention of legal, financial and physical harm, whereas efficacy messages communicated success stories and encouragement. As regards message structure, the threat component always preceded the efficacy component. Within each component, different patterns emerged. Practical implications To enhance efficacy in campaigns directed against distracted driving and to reduce the gap between theory and practice, social marketers should include messages that empower recipients to abstain from mobile phone use while driving. Campaigns should show recommended behaviours and highlight their usefulness and effectiveness. Originality/value This paper adds to limited research conducted on effect-independent message properties of fear appeals. It enhances understanding of fear appeal message features across the structure and content dimension. By discussing barriers to explicit theory use in social marketing practice and offering practical implications for social marketers, it contributes towards reducing the barriers to explicit theory use in campaign message design.

Distracted driving: mobile phone use while driving in three Mexican cities

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 276-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Daniel Vera-López ◽  
Ricardo Pérez-Núñez ◽  
Martha Híjar ◽  
Elisa Hidalgo-Solórzano ◽  
Jeffrey C Lunnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Distracted Driving ◽  
Mobile Phone Use

scholarly journals Extent of mobile phone use by pedestrians on controlled crossings in central Hobart, Tasmania

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Pharo
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Moving Vehicle ◽  
Mobile Phone Use ◽  
Vehicle Traffic ◽  
Risk Of Injury ◽  
Slow Moving ◽  
Safe Road

Distracted walking is one way that pedestrians increase their risk of injury, but little is known about the extent of the problem. I quantified the extent of phone use by pedestrians over seven hours at each of the 10 signalised crossings in central Hobart. Of the 16,032 people counted, 12.4% of pedestrians were using phones: 4.6% were reading or typing on their phone, 2.3% were talking and another 5.5% were listening to headphones. The latter figure will be an underestimate because of the difficulty of seeing headphones obscured by hats and long hair. At the busiest sites at two ends of a pedestrian mall, there were as many as 155 and 158 people in a one hour period looking down at their phones to read or type. Fortunately these two roads had slow moving vehicle traffic, meaning consequences of crashes would likely be minor. However, four of the sites crossed wide, 50kph, arterial roads, so a combination of responses will be needed to lower crash risk, including education, enforcement and consideration of safe road speeds.

scholarly journals An investigation of the mobile phone use while driving among drivers: Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid H Ahamed ◽  
Mobarak H Hafian
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Cell Phones ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
Mobile Phone Use ◽  
Road Users ◽  
Mobile Phone Usage

This study aimed to investigate the effects of mobile phone usage while driving. A sample of 882 drivers was surveyed to gather information on their mobile phone use while driving as well as their risk perception. The results show that 98.2% of the participants reported using their mobile phone for any purpose while driving (texting, calling, or answering).Although the rate of using mobile phone while driving is high for all residences, there were statistical significant differences in this behavior according to the nationality (98.6%for Saudi vs. 95.3%for non - Saudi).While there were no statistical significant differences according to age, education level, and driving experience. Practitioner Summary: The use of cell phones while driving is ubiquitous in Saudi Arabia despite legislation banning this behavior. Further laws and regulations that prohibit using mobile phone while driving should be adopted and distraction among road users such as pedestrians is potentially an important issue of future research.

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