Should talking on cellphones including handsfree be banned when driving?
Post categories: Civicus
| 20:53 UK time, Sunday, 22 August 2010
Hello I'm Ousman Conteh from the Gambia, and I'm here in Montreal for the Civicus youth conference. I'm a youth activist by profession and currently serving as a member of the National Youth Parliament of The Gambia. I write to share my concern and also gauge your opinion on a silent killer amongst young people, .
I'm overwhelmed by the tragic and unbearable reports that each year nearly 1.2 million people die and around 50 million more are injured or disabled as a result of road traffic crashes. Of the total who are killed, more than 400,000 are young people, millions more are injured or disabled.
Road crashes are the leading cause of death among young people,aged 10-24 years. To me, this is entirely unacceptable; most of these tragic deaths could have been avoided. By just focusing on key risk factors, ie, Limiting Speed, Deducing Drink Driving, Increasing Use of Seatbelt, Motor cycle Helmets, Efforts to improved emergency and trauma care for post crashes, promote road safety education and the list can go on and on and on.
My doubt is even with all these figures and statistics, there is still a lack of awareness and recognition throughout the world of the vulnerable position of young people when using the roads. It is time that young people take responsibility on their own shoulders to make road safer for everyone
Therefore, I recognised the efforts by : Youth For Road Safety, an initiative born from the first The 1st World Youth Assembly for Road Safety three years ago.
But now there is a new form of threat ravaging our young people on our roads on an alarming rate, that is the use of mobile phones whilest driving.
This is why I think using a mobile phone or a handsfree phone should be banned when people are driving. What do you think?
