From today, Monday 9 and until October 15, the General Directorate of Traffic launches a new Special Control Campaign on Distractions at the Wheel. The campaign aims to raise awareness among drivers and reduce the impact of this risky behaviour, which is the first most common concurrent factor in traffic accidents, especially in those accidents involving fatalities.
The misuse of the mobile phone while driving continues to be the most frequent punishable distraction, as shown by the results of the last surveillance and control campaign on distractions at the wheel, carried out between 7 and 13 September 2022 in Extremadura, where 4,535 vehicles were controlled on conventional roads (1,243 in Badajoz and 3,292 in Cáceres), denouncing 85 drivers for actions that involve distraction during driving (44 in Badajoz and 41 in Cáceres). Of the complaints made, 40% of them (34) were for using the mobile phone while driving, 16 were in the province of Pacense and 18 in the province of Cáceres.
National driving distractions
In a recent survey, 76% of surveyed drivers acknowledge distracted driving with some frequency, and up to 5% acknowledge distraction at the wheel “almost always.” Those over the age of 65 are distracted 10 times less than young people between the ages of 18 and 29.
Other similar studies, which use surveys of drivers on inattentive driving using electronic devices, show that 48% of Spanish drivers regularly use their mobile phone while driving and 18% acknowledge that they have experienced risky situations due to the use of the phone while driving. 23% acknowledge tracking text messages on mobile and 22% talk to the phone without hands-free devices.
The use of electronic devices has severe consequences for attentive driving: dialing a phone number on a mobile device while driving could multiply by 12 the risk of suffering a traffic accident, and reading or writing messages on a mobile device could multiply by 6 the risk of accident.
Other common distractions are related to tiredness and/or sleep, which was a concurrent factor in 7% of fatal accidents in 2021, with 77 deaths. In 2022 it was 8%. It is estimated that people with chronic insomnia cause two and a half times more accidents than those who sleep well.
For all these reasons, the present control and surveillance campaign is essential to contribute to reducing the attitudes of users that involve high-risk behaviors, that put at risk the safety of circulation, put at risk their own life, and the life of other road users.