Drive Safe Europe applauds latest effort against texting while driving

Drive Safe Europe (DSE) welcomes the European Parliament vote on Directive on Road safety: cross-border enforcement of sanctions and its inclusion of the illegal use of mobile communications as one of the offences.

Drive Safe Europe (DSE) welcomes today's (06 July 2011) adoption in the European Parliament's Plenary Session of MEP Ines Ayala Sender's report on the Directive on Road safety: cross-border enforcement of sanctions [COM (2008)0151] and considers this another important step in the fight against texting while driving.

A driver who is texting is 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident. 10 Member States have bans against texting and today's action strengthens the enforcement for drivers crossing borders. In particular DSE applauds the inclusion of the offence of texting while driving in order to reduce the estimated €26 billion spent annually in Europe on distracted driving related motor vehicle accidents.

Speaking on the EP vote, Ciarán Hynes, Managing Director, Drive Safe Europe said: "This is a good step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to prevent texting while driving occurring in the first place. DSE believes that technology solutions offer the best opportunity and we look forward to continued support in using technology to prevent this rising problem on our roads".

The report tackles the main causes of death and serious injury on EU roads: mobile phone use, speeding, drink-driving and non use of seat belts. The recognition of this report will allow for the effective enforcement of road traffic rules across borders through information exchange which will aid police and enforcement authorities in their efforts to achieve compliance with road traffic rules. The EP approval follows the approval of Member States on the Draft Directive on Cross Border Traffic Offences on 22 June. This is another vital measure in increasing cross border efforts in reducing fatalities and accidents on Europe's roads and making Europe's roads safer for drivers.  

DSE is a technology company whose primary focus is to bring to the global market its core piece of technology that will reduce road deaths and injuries due to distracted driving. This technology, created and developed in Ireland, is unique in that it can detect the velocity of a mobile phone and distinguish whether the user of the phone is the driver or passenger. DSE’s innovative technology will make an immediate impact on drivers and save thousands of lives.