Irish road safety officer wants to introduce a drastic measure to stop mobile phone use while driving

This could be well worth a shot.

A road safety officer with the Mayo County Council wants motorists who are caught using their mobile phone while driving in Ireland to have their devices impounded. A similar measure has been in effect in Cape Town in South Africa since 2012 and as of 2015, the programme had confiscated over 10,000 mobile phones. Noel Gibbons of the Mayo County Council thinks that the introduction of a similar programme in Ireland could prove very effective. “I believe similar action here in Ireland would have very beneficial effects as most people are very attached to their phones,” Gibbons said. “If you were to hand over your phone at a check point you would think twice the next time about texting and driving.” While making his argument, Gibbons pointed to figures from the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which estimated that up to 27% of fatal crashes involving drivers under 30 involve distraction. A special envoy from the United Nations, meanwhile, has highlighted the need to place extra emphasis on the dangers of texting while driving, having noted that 13 million people around the world have lost their lives in road crashes in the last decade. “Texting while driving is a global killer – one that disproportionately affects our young people,” the envoy said. “(This is) particularly urgent, because in virtually every one of our countries, there simply is not sufficient recognition of the dangers of driving while texting, calling, or otherwise not paying full attention on the road.” A special road safety campaign to highlight the dangers of using your phone while driving will take place in Mayo this Friday, April 29, with drivers asked to show their support by painting their thumbnails red and green ahead of Mayo Day on April 30. The original idea for the campaign came from America; the idea being that every time a driver sees their painted thumbnail on the steering wheel, they were reminded of the need to avoid using their mobile phone while behind the wheel.