Transport Ministry Launches Campaign against Using Phones when Driving

Kosice/Bratislava, 8 December (TASR) – Around one third of active drivers use their mobile phones while driving, according to the results of a recent survey, prompting the Transport Ministry to launch an awareness campaign titled 'Do Not Use Your Mobile! Drive!', which is aimed at highlighting that using a mobile phone behind the wheel significantly reduces attention and driver reaction times and can lead to tragic consequences. "This campaign will have, let me call it, a visual form of expression, something like an advertisement. My colleagues have prepared three, in my view, very nice, emotional and short stories intended to remind us not to reach for a mobile phone while driving," Transport Minister Jozef Raz (Smer-SD nominee) announced at a press briefing in Kosice on Monday. A crashed vehicle has also been placed near a shopping centre on Moldavska Street in Kosice to illustrate the consequences of inattention behind the wheel. Additional wrecks are expected to be placed in Bratislava and Zilina. The survey for the National Highway Company was carried out on a sample of 1,001 respondents by NMS Market Research Slovakia. "One third of drivers use a mobile phone while driving, and one quarter of these people use one on every journey. Sixty-nine percent use them for phone calls, 66 percent use them for navigation, and over 40 percent for listening to music," explained campaign co-author Martin Petro from the ministry, adding that every fifth driver replies to text messages or social media messages behind the wheel. Younger drivers and people with higher education are more likely to use their phones multiple times during a journey. mf/df