Take a Call…

Editorial

A recent study conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom revealed that reaction times of drivers slowed down by 46 per cent when s/he was making a call on a handheld mobile and by 27 per cent during hands-free calls. This study has put a specific number to what people have always known – that it is dangerous to use a mobile phone while driving. Response times slowing down to nearly half the normal reaction is a substantial debilitation and easily understood if one bears in mind that a phone call engages too many senses, and a hand. And the data bears this out since mild inebriation slows down reaction times by 13 per cent in comparison and a ganja trip reduces response quickness by 21 per cent. So there you have it, on the roads, the busy-body chatterbox on the phone is much more dangerous than the drunk or ‘druggist’ behind the wheels. In hills, where the roads receive more than their share of reckless drivers and poorly trained hands, such delayed reaction becomes even more dangerous. And yet, of late, talking on the phone while driving has become an almost routine affair on Sikkim roads. At one time, drivers would be very particular not to take calls while driving or would leave a quick message and call back when they had stopped. Not so anymore. Just about every ride on a share-cab in Gangtok has the driver taking and making calls. Of course, when talking on the phone comes so unhesitatingly in Gangtok, where a traffic cop prowls around every bend, it is routine on the highway wherever a call can come through. This has become so routine that even passengers don’t notice it as an aberration any more and drivers don’t appear interested in investing in Bluetooth earpieces which would make attending to such calls at least safer, even if not completely advisable.