Up to 40% of South African motorists drive blind

Undoubtedly that headline caught your attention, and despite not being physically blind, statistics show that 40% of all drivers do not have their eyes on the road.

Instead, their eyes are squarely focused on the screens of their cell phones, statistics compiled by MasterDrive show.

MasterDrive is a South African driver training organisation which assists companies in managing driver risk interventions and is part of the RAC Group.

Managing director Eugene Herbert said the phenomenon of inattention blindness happens when drivers use their phones while driving. He said many people drive for over 90 metres with the same attention and vision capability of someone wearing a blindfold.

“A driver experiencing inattention blindness can look straight at a stop sign or pedestrian, but not consciously register these at all. What should really be asked is whether you’d like to be such a driver, or share the road with such a driver,” said Herbert.

The World Health Organisation estimates that cell phone use amongst drivers had grown by 11% in the last 5 years.

But there is a way of curbing the urge to check your phone with a simple, voice-based mobile application called ‘PingLoud’.

The app is designed to stop drivers from checking their phones by automatically reading WhatsApp, SMS, email and other types of messages out loud.