By : SHANTANU PAKNIKAR
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Thank you Shantanu for your contributions to make our roads safer. We hope that our readers internalize the message and bring about the change to avoid distracted driving themselves, and to avoid distracting other drivers. Note that even hands-free is not risk-free. Apart from the eyes and hands, the brain plays a very important role in processing information and making decisions when driving. The hands-free call takes your mind and your attention off the traffic and the road. Take a pledge to make our roads safer by driving cell-free!
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I was one of the many people in Bangalore, India, who attend (teleconference) calls while driving, using a hands-free device. For many of us, speaking on the phone while driving is such a commonplace occurrence that we now even make regular 1-1 calls (with team members, colleagues, boss, anybody) while driving. I have not only answered calls, but also dialed out to people while driving, texted while driving, and so on. Hopefully some of you might relate with what I am saying here. I guess this should be the case with people in other cities in India as well, and perhaps in some other parts of the world?
I remember there have been times when I’ve driven from point A to point B, while on a call, and don’t recollect how I got to point B. This disturbed me at times, since I have a fairly sharp memory otherwise. I realized that these ‘memory black outs’ were primarily because I was so engrossed in the conversation on the phone that my driving was on automatic. However, I rationalized it by telling myself that it’s a hands free device, both my hands are still on the steering wheel.
Until the 9th of September, 2014.
I got the news of the death of a friend’s niece, in a road accident. I didn’t know his niece, but this particular friend is like family to me. I remember meeting his niece when she was a child, along with her mom, my friend’s elder sister. I couldn’t figure out what to do. Was there any way I could help? No. I wondered about calling up his sister – then thought, let me not intrude on the family at this time of grief.
I spent the day busy at work, with thoughts interrupted by my mind coming back to what my friend’s family must be going through, and especially his sister. That evening, on the way home, I started my car and was about to switch on my hands free device. And then I thought to myself, “Not today. Not in the mood for conversations.” As could be expected, I was extra careful while driving – and not being on my usual phone calls helped as well.
The next day, I experimented again – no hands free, no phone call while driving. It was not easy. I was so used to speaking on the phone with the hands free device, and closing work transactions while driving, that it was almost difficult to concentrate on driving when that was the only thing to do. However, I got through the day fine. With every passing day, it became easier till I stopped carrying my hands free device with me at all.
Mindfulness is the ability to be in the present moment, and be attentive and aware of everything around us. Earlier, whenever I spoke on the phone while driving, I could see things: road, route, traffic, other vehicles, pedestrians. Once I stopped using the phone while driving, I realized that I could be mindful of them. Stopping the car and letting pedestrians cross became just a bit easier. Slowing down at the orange light (instead of accelerating) became easier as well.
I could now notice the number of people who talk on phone while driving, many of them even without a hands free, and with the phone to their ear, one hand on the steering wheel. I noticed people on two wheelers, speaking on the phone while riding a bike. I couldn’t help but notice the young girl, around twenty, crossing the road while speaking on her phone. And another teenage pedestrian, checking her smartphone while walking on the side of the road, with vehicles passing within touching distance. I wanted to shout, “Watch out” – but the words caught in my throat. What I could see earlier but was not mindful of was that our roads are not as safe as we assume them to be. We always feel, “Nothing’s going to happen to me – no need to worry”. That worries me.
Some days later, I heard the horrific news of the death of three colleagues in a road accident. It strengthened my belief that road safety is something that every one of us needs to start taking really seriously. Some days later, I got a call from another very close friend, who speaks regularly on his hands free while driving. I explained to him that I would speak with him after he got home and not while he was driving – I could not stand the thought of something happening to him. He understood. I would have done the same even if he hadn’t.
Am I overreacting? Perhaps. But here’s what I am discovering since that day of September: our roads are not safe. Your phone is a great device – however it has the potential to suck away, into that 4 inch screen, a significant portion of your alertness, attentiveness, and mindfulness. These will be critical in that fraction of a second which can make a difference to your own life or somebody else’s. That teleconference, answering that call, making that call, closing that transaction, that text message, that social media post – is just NOT worth it while you are on the road.
Today, I was on the road most of the day, in client meetings. I missed several calls. I have no regrets. Just the hope that I can continue to refuse to answer the phone while driving. And that the people who care will understand why.
Dear reader, I leave you with this message. Do not use your phone while driving. Do not use your phone on the road, even as a pedestrian. Keep our roads safe for yourself and people around you. And to my dear friend’s sister with whom I started this post, if you are reading this: I cannot even comprehend the grief you must have gone through. I thought of you every day but could do nothing except this little gesture. I am aware of your mission to make our roads safer, in the memory of your daughter. I am with you. It won’t bring her back, but might perhaps be enough to save somebody else.
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Shantanu wrote this soon after Aru’s accident in 2014. This was the prequel to the blog that he recently posted on our site. See also : road-safety-one-starfish-at-a-time
Here is an infographic that tells you why hands-free is not risk free. “The activity in the area of the brain that processes moving images decreases by upto 1/3 when listening to, or talking on a phone”
