Hundreds of school children and trauma surgeons demand ‘Put the mobile away’ in promotional campaign

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has joined school children, parents and trauma consultants at Scoil Mhuire and Scoil Bhríde in Tullamore, Co. Offaly to launch a campaign highlighting the serious dangers of using mobile phones while driving.

The campaign includes a radio advert recorded by the school children titled ‘Phone down – safe driving’, new pilot road signs in association with Offaly County Council and An Garda Síochána, an eight-week emotive audio campaign on regional radio, Midlands 103, and a social media campaign backed by pop-band Chasing Abbey and Offaly hurler Adam Screeney.

Launching the campaign ‘Put the mobile away’, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said, “Last year, An Garda Síochána issued over 19,000 fines for people using their mobile phone while driving. That is far, far too many.  And just with all other efforts to increase the safety of our roads, they will only be a success if we all work together. Gardaí, drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. It can often be forgotten, but children play an important role in road safety, and initiatives like this in Tullamore today work to highlight this very important issue”.

The Commissioner welcomed the safety campaign from the Rotary Club and the primary schools in Tullamore. “Distracted driving due to handheld mobile device usage is one of the dangerous behaviours that leads to road traffic collisions. Recent data from the World Health Organisation indicates that drivers using a mobile phone are four times more likely to be involved in a collision.”

Commissioner Harris added, “The local school children are an influential voice in this campaign and can bring the message home to parents.”

Paddy Dunican, President of the Tullamore and District Rotary Club, who organised the campaign, said, “Research published by the RSA just last summer, showed that 29% of motorists reported that they talked on a mobile hands-free often or very often, while a fifth of motorists reported that they read messages/emails often or very often. Almost 20% of motorists reported that they wrote messages/emails often or very often.”

Trauma consultant Professor Eoin Sheehan said, “Given the devastating impact of accidents on lives of so many, and the trauma for families, we need to look at every possible opportunity to minimise mobile distractions.”

Current research coming out of the US is stark, he said. “Distracted driving significantly increases the chance of crashing. Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) research has uncovered two key insights on this front. The first is that drivers who crash are twice as likely to interact with their phone the minute before the crash. The second finding is that of all the drivers who crash, 34% interacted with their phones within the minute before the crash.

“Technology already exists that could prevent many of those crashes and save lives. Cell phone blocking apps and devices can help drivers stay focused on driving. They prevent drivers from making or accepting calls, texting or accessing the internet. We definitely need to look at all the options. Today’s mobile phones are in essence computers, so we really need to put a halt to the distraction they are causing.”

Also attending the launch in Co. Offaly were the emergency services including, the aeromedical ambulance, national emergency ambulances, Tullamore fire brigade incident, rescue units and Garda response units.

The campaign was supported by Midlands 103 Radio and the Tullamore Credit Union.