![\"1Mobile-phone-use-and-driving\"](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/1Mobile-phone-use-and-driving.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDangers of using cellphones while driving<\/h3>\n
Cellphone usage while driving affects\u00a0driver competence, resulting in a 37% decrease in parietal lobe activity in the brain.<\/p>\n
Discovery Insure CEO Anton Ossip said that despite legislation prohibiting it, two-thirds of drivers still make cellphone calls while driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people attempt to text while driving and, and even though 40% of drivers have hands-free kits, 80% of their calls are made without using them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discovery Insure Driving Challenge<\/h3>\n
To address the problem of road safety, Discovery Insure launched its Discovery Insure Driving Challenge (DIDC) programme.<\/p>\n
It is centred on the DIDC app, which is designed to help drivers become more competent and aware behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
Data collected from users of the app shows that a single instance of mobile phone usage represents an average of 52 seconds of distracted driving.<\/p>\n
At 60km\/h, this is equivalent to driving \u201cblind\u201d for one kilometre, and makes the driver four times more likely to have an accident.<\/p>\n
The data also shows the worst 20% of drivers use their phones for an average of three minutes per trip.<\/p>\n
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Cellphone usage while driving<\/strong><\/p>\n In a recent presentation by Darryl Grater, head of special projects at Discovery Insure, he explained that when people take a call or try to text while driving, they typically slow down.<\/p>\n After a while the person makes a correction, and increases speed.<\/p>\n These changes are not only distracting to the driver, but also increases the dangers of an accident because of the increase of G-Force during the changes.<\/p>\n The image below shows the changes which Discovery Insure found through the data they collected from drivers.<\/p>\n Texting while driving is bad \u2013 but people don\u2019t care<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Texting while driving: South Africans love it<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Voice-to-text while driving is not safe: study<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMore on mobile use<\/h3>\n