Why youngsters use mobile phones while driving

Long-distance drives or feeling bored while waiting at a traffic light are just some of the reasons why youth in the UAE feel the urge to pick up their phone while behind the wheel.

Though well aware of the risks of texting while driving, and in some cases they were able to avoid last-minute accidents, the urge to use the phone while driving is hard to ignore, they said.

Gulf News interviewed students from across three different universities in the UAE to understand what exactly compels them to take their eyes off the road to check a notification or a recent update on social media.

“It’s just a habit to keep my phone in my hand all the time, and since I drive long distances every day, I feel the need to do something that could keep me entertained on the way,” said Eyad Jaouni, a 23-year-old Palestinian student at the Canadian University in Dubai (CUD).

“I start checking notifications, switching between music, and viewing Snapchat [video] stories to keep myself occupied most of the time, but when it comes to texting on WhatsApp, I try to avoid it, because I could get myself killed.”

Jaouni often finds himself still standing on a green traffic light because he gets carried away scrolling down on his Instagram newsfeed. He only got fined once in his life for using his phone.

“I was driving on Al Khail Road one day and using phone to switch between music tracks and then I unknowingly found myself swerving on another lane about to hit another vehicle,” he recalled.

He says he realises the risk and dangers he often puts himself in, but he also sees many others his age do it. “I sometimes give myself a break because I have been near accidents many times when trying to use my phone, but then I get back to the habit and the cycle continues.”

Jaouni said the only way he could stop texting while driving is by not keeping service on his phone. “With no internet access on the road, I won’t touch my phone. I would only be skipping through music nothing else.”

Similarly Tariq Zidane, Jordanian, 23, from CUD, who has gotten seven fines for using his phone in the car, said he knows it’s dangerous, but is required to do it sometimes.

“When I have something to say to someone, or I’m heading to a location and need Google Maps to find the place, I need to use it, it’s hard to not use the phone.”

He added, “If you can multitask, then why not? I believe I can do it, but I make sure I don’t always text a lot while behind the wheel.”

When it comes to girls, they are less likely to find themselves using their phone on the road.

Shahdan Ebrahim, 22, a senior student at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), says she tries to avoid doing it but will most likely do it while waiting at a traffic light or when stuck in traffic.

“Usually I don’t really text while driving that much, because I’m slow at typing and will have to look at the phone longer than usual to do it,” she said. “I only do it when there’s something important. I try to use the voice recording feature on WhatsApp to avoid texting.”

She said she noticed all her friends take short videos for Snapchat while driving or writing captions for their Snapchat photos. “I think it’s gone too much.”

“I see a lot of people drive and text, a lot of people from my university do that while driving slowly around campus,” she said. “I almost got into a couple of accidents before because other drivers were completely distracted from the road while holding their phone and were swerving towards my lane.”

Ebrahim frequently tells her elder sister, also in her 20s, to stop texting while driving. “She’s a heavy phone user but she’s not the only one, even older people do it.

“It’s not worth getting into an accident for a text,” she says. “It’s better to park and then answer messages.”

On the other hand, Mariez Nader, a 21-year-old Egyptian student from the American University of Dubai (AUD) is completely against using the phone while driving and when she sees her friends doing it, she tells them to stop.

“I’ve been in the car with people my age who are compelled to use their chat while driving, I tell them to focus on the road, or I keep my eyes on the road instead of them,” she said.

“In my case, if I’m the driver I would look at the phone but I won’t read it or try to reply unless I’m parked. I know that it could put others’ lives at risk.”

She said putting radars on the road to fine violators for using their phone doesn’t help in reducing the problem.

“People put down their phone when they reach the radar, whatever is done, people will continue to do it.

source : gulfnews