Stakeholders Decry Use Of Phones While Driving

Stakeholders in the road transportation sub sector have called for stiffer penalties for those caught in the act of using phones while driving, thereby causing potential threat to the lives of other road users.

The call was made following the re-occurrence of accidents occasioned by the use of mobile phones by drivers while driving.

Speaking to The Tide on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, the executive secretary of a Non Governmental Organisation, Safe Arrival Group (SAG), Udoh Ikenna, lamented that the use of phones while driving remained a major contributor to the high rate of road accidents across the country, especially with the advent of GSM phones.

According to him, SAG as an NGO was compelled to play a role in the area of advocacy and public enlightenment, especially as it relates to the dangers inherent in mobile phones distractions while driving.

His words: “Let me categorically state that this is not the first attempt as an interventionist move to reduce road accidents in the country. We have been involved in this for a while. And our efforts in this regard include the launch of child safety, truck safety and the school zones initiatives, aimed at identifying hot spots, especially when there is a rush period when pupil close from school”, he added.

He noted that the National Communication Commission (NCC) has a role to play in the area of advocacy for telecommunications service providers, saying that this is to enable the operators see themselves as partners in ensuring that the mobile phones are put to good use without endangering the lives of others.

This, he said, could be achieved in form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept for service providers by enlightening the public on the danger of mobile phone distractions behind the wheels through constant reminders via text messages and jingles.

Commenting on the issue, a personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corp who chose to be anonymous, told The Tide that it was an established fact that the use of a mobile  phonen while driving is an offence created by part II section 10 subsection 4 (ff) of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Act 2007, and Act 2004 section 80 and the national highway code lends additional bite to this law over and above the provisions of the enabling laws.