Most people recognise that using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous and if caught by Police will lead to six points on their driving licence plus a £200 fine. So what makes some people think that they can get away with streaming live video from their mobile device while driving?
Sadly, it seems, far too many people do use the technology to broadcast to friends and followers while they are at the wheel of a vehicle. Note the use of the term vehicle: you might think the majority of these drivers would be broadcasting from a car but there are HGV drivers who think it is clever to broadcast whilst manoeuvring a 44 ton truck at 60 mph.
You only have to make a quick search on the Internet to find videos of drivers streaming as they drive. While the phone might be in a cradle (hands free) whether facing the camera forward through the windscreen or pointing it at themselves the screen is visible to the driver and they can see exactly what they are streaming.
Adding to the problem is that many of these applications also allow viewers to send text messages to the host which appear on the screen; by reading them the driver has to take their focus off the road and many then engage in conversation with the viewers. It’s worrying when you watch the videos and see how much time they spend looking at the screen, rather than where they are going.
To raise awareness of this phenomenon Tuesday 3 April has been designated ‘Don’t Stream and Drive Day’ in the UK. Led by a serving police officer, the campaign is being widely advertised on social media and uses the hashtag #DontStreamandDrive
Police forces, road safety organisations and members of the public around the country are joining a Thunderclap campaign to publicise the event with a message being sent from every participating Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook account at 4pm on the day. The social reach is currently almost 4.5 million users with a month still to go.
That’s an awful lot of people who will see the message ‘Don’t Stream and Drive’. Will they heed it?
Find out more about Don’t Stream and Drive
