Crash risk associated with mobile phones and new TAC safety campaign.

Press/Media: Expert Comment

Period27 May 2019

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitlePhone use targeted by new Vic road safety campaign
    Degree of recognitionNational
    Media name/outletABC Radio Sydney + 59 outlets, including Radio National, Radio Australia (Asia Pacific).
    Media typePrint
    Duration/Length/Size3min 1sec
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    Date27/05/19
    DescriptionReport by Samantha Donovan. Vic's road toll has already risen to 137 deaths this year. A new ad campaign is being launched, urging people to concentrate when they are driving. Vic has lead the world in introducing road safety measures like the mandatory wearing of seatbelts and random breath testing, but with this year's road toll, the TAC is now hammering home the message that phone use in the car can kill. Monash University Accident Research Centre Associate Professor Michael Fitzharris says three to five percent of car crashes that either proved fatal or inflict serious injury are caused by mobile phone use. He notes young people have a different relationship to their phones than older drivers.

    Full station list: ABC Radio Sydney, plus Alice Springs; Ballarat; Broken Hill; Capricornia (Rockhampton); Central Coast (Erina); Central Victoria (Bendigo); Central West NSW (Orange); Coffs Coast; Esperance; Eyre Peninsula and West Coast (Port Lincoln); Far North (Cairns); Gippsland (Sale); Gold Coast; Goldfields WA (Kalgoorlie); Goulburn Murray (Wodonga); Great Southern (Albany); Great Southern WA (Wagin); Illawarra (Wollongong); Kimberley (Broome); Midwest and Wheatbelt (Geraldton); Mildura - Swan Hill; New England North West (Tamworth); Newcastle; North and West SA (Port Pirie); North Coast NSW (Lismore); North Queensland (Townsville); North West Qld (Mt Isa); Northern Tasmania (Launceston); Pilbara (Karratha); Radio Adelaide; Radio Brisbane; Radio Canberra; Radio Darwin; Radio Hobart; Radio Melbourne; Radio Perth; Riverina (Wagga Wagga); Riverland SA (Renmark); Shepparton; South East NSW (Bega); South East SA (Mt Gambier); South West WA (Bunbury); South Western Victoria (Warrnambool); Southern Queensland (Toowoomba); Sunshine Coast (Sunshine Coast); Tropical North (Mackay); Upper Hunter (Muswellbrook); Western Plains NSW (Dubbo); Western Queensland (Longreach); Wide Bay (Bundaberg); Wimmera (Horsham); Radio National (Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Perth); Radio Australia (Asia Pacific).
    Producer/AuthorSamantha Donovan, Sarah Dingle
    URLhttps://abcmedia.akamaized.net/radio/local_sydney/audio/201905/twt-2019-05-31-road-safety.mp3
    PersonsMichael Fitzharris

Keywords

  • mobile phone
  • crash risk
  • Transport Accident Commission