Still think texting while driving is a minor offence? Think again. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy is enforcing the legal ban on the use of ‘hand-held communication devices’ while driving and, in fact, 16,925 motorists were fined for doing so in the 2024/25 festive season.
This hard-line stance is a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that driving while distracted is one of the leading causes of road accidents. Creecy’s festive season report shows that 87% of the crashes during the period happened because of human behaviour, including losing control, speeding, and reckless overtaking – all of which can happen when drivers are distracted.
Wynand van Vuuren, client experience partner at King Price Insurance says, “we all know that using our phones while we’re driving is illegal. But did you know thattexting while driving makes having an accident 23 times more likely, and simply dialling a number carries an accident risk that’s six-times higher? Cellphones aside, other causes of distracted driving according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) include eating or drinking, which increase the risk of a crash by almost 39%, applying make-up, and sorting out our children’s needs.
Children are known to be 12 times more distracting to drivers than talking on a cellphone. And, during an average 16-minute car trip, parents are distracted by their children for over 20% of the time, with 10% of new moms having had an accident while driving with their babies.
Van Vuuren offers some tips to make it easier to pay attention to the road when there are children in the car:
- Be prepared: Make sure that your child’s essentials are within easy reach to reduce the need for you to take your focus off driving.
- Delay non-urgent needs: Whenever possible, prioritise safety over immediate attention and wait until you’ve arrived before tending to your child.
- Stop only when necessary: If you must pull over, only do so in a secure location like a fuel garage or parking area.
- Teach car safety: Help your children to understand the importance of staying calm and behaving appropriately in order to keep everyone safe.
“Our roads are already dangerous, with robots often not working and many drivers ignoring the rules of the road while at the same time dodging potholes and pedestrians. Adding distractions to the mix creates an unnecessary new level of risk for you, for your passengers and children, and for other road users,” warns Van Vuuren.