Distracted Driving
AASA sent out a newsletter regarding this topic yesterday
(12/05/2016). I believe that those who subscribe to this publication are
already concerned about the death rate on our roads and should not be the
target audience.
We have a well-developed broadcasting system that could –
and should be utilised to graphically bring this message to the attention of as
many citizens as possible.
I have on many occasions experienced the result of the
distractions caused by texting, applying make-up and general inattention of
fellow drivers. People seem to forget that they are often travelling at 120 Km
per hour or 33 meters per second or more.
It simply means that if you look
down for 1 second, you will be 33 meters further along when you look up
again.
To text one word or read one sentence will often take in excess of 5
seconds.
That will place you 150 meters or the length of one and a half
football fields further down the road. Should someone in front of you apply
brakes it will simply require you to have a following distance at least 150
meters excluding the time that you will require to react.
Even if the campaign uses some of the goriest footage to
bring this message home, it will be shock treatment well applied.
Instead of spewing political jargon every time they appear
on TV, Politicians should rather spend this time to bring home some message
that actually can make a difference to people’s lives.
Ideology will not solve the problems nor will scoring
political points.
We can keep on blaming the regime of almost a quarter century
ago for all the problems we are experiencing now or do something positive to actually change
something else than the name of some street or town.
ANC should not be the
acronym for Another Name Change but
embody the visions of Nelson Mandela and those that had the purpose of making
this country a truly world class place to live in.
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