Vodafone India and SaveLIFE Foundation jointly published a unique report on “Safety in Mobility,” that studies the user’s behaviour while riding a bike. The study revealed an Indian subscriber’s usage of phone while driving.
The report is titled as “Distracted Driving in India: A Study on Mobile Phone Usage, Pattern and Behaviour” and the title itself says entire story. In the report, it is said that 41 percent of people in India use phones for work-related purposes while driving, whereas 94 percent of people believe that using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous.
A total of 68 percent people support the use of enforcement cameras to catch drivers who use cell phones while driving. It is also stated that 60 percent of individuals do not stop at a safe location before attending a call. Furthermore, 20 percent of people had a near miss or a road crash due to the usage of mobile phone while driving.
The survey was conducted by international research agency Kantar Public, which covered eight cities and a total of 1749 respondents covering four types of drivers - two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and truck/bus drivers.
Besides the above findings, there are some other noteworthy findings as well such as 34 percent people said that they tend to apply sudden brakes when speaking on the phone while driving. Another 20 percent of people admitted that they had near-miss situations or had accidents when talking over the phone while driving. Interestingly, 96 percent of passengers feel insecure when their driver uses a mobile phone while driving.
Aside from the report, Vodafone and SaveLIFE Foundation collaboratively launched an application named ‘Road Safe’ to develop the Road Safety in India. One of the highlighted features in the app is Distraction Free Driving, which automatically turns off the calls, SMS, and notifications for the driver when the speed is above 10 Kmph.
Saji Cherian, Director, Operations, SaveLIFE Foundation said, “This study is pathbreaking as it categorically confirms for the first time that uses of mobile phones while driving is rampant in India. The focus is also on solving the problem by launching the Vodafone-SaveLIFE Foundation Road Safe mobile application that will help drivers remain distraction-free while driving.”
