Automobile Association of Ceylon (AAC) has launched the ‘Don’t Drive Blind!’ campaign to minimise ‘Distracted Driving’.
AAC President, Dhammika Attygalle said, “We have observed that bad driving habits are the key to these accidents and ‘Don’t Drive Blind!’ inititive is one of our proecjts to help minimise it,” said
“We have identified that driving under the influence of liquor, the rampant use of mobile phones while driving, consistently tops the list of traffic offenses in Colombo and Galle districts in both 2019 and 2022.”
“Towards this we came to a partnership with the National Road Safety Council and Optimum Q Event & Project Management, demonstrating our commitment to a multi-faceted approach to tackling this issue. We also want to thank Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) for offering USD 30,000 for this initiative.”
DIG Indika Hapugoda said, “With over 3,500 road accident deaths annually, 9,000 critical accidents, and 12,000 minor accidents, the need for urgent action to enhance road safety cannot be overstated.”
Director Marketing, Optimum Q, Santhush Ratnasinghe, said that under the ‘Don’t Drive Blind!’ initiative we are looking to break driver’s harmful habits on sending SMS while driving, similar to those used to combat smoking or texting addiction.
“We aim to educate the public about the perils of using mobile phones while driving and create a widespread understanding that distracted driving is akin to ‘the new drink driving’ or a form of negligent driving with far-reaching consequences.”
Through applied research, we intend to provide an evidence-based resource platform aimed at reducing in-vehicle mobile phone use, primarily among young drivers, who are more susceptible to this risky behaviour.
Secretary, AAC Devapriya Hettiarachchi said, “These kinds of initiatives are used in many parts of the world including Australia and New Zealand and we too are dedicated to making our roads safer by addressing smartphone use in vehicles.”
“Through applied research, we intend to provide an evidence-based resource platform aimed at reducing in-vehicle mobile phone use, primarily among young drivers, who are more susceptible to this risky behaviour.
“We urge all Sri Lankan drivers to join us in this mission to reduce mobile phone use behind the wheel by taking our quiz at driveinthemoment.org/lk and answer a few questions,” he said.
