rather than point out possible ones for them , so that the driver has to think through that scenario and actively imagine themselves in it .
• Encourage them not to make calls to family members that they know are driving , to keep them safe too .
• Encourage them to think of all other road-users as someone ’ s family , who are just as keen to get home safely as they are .
“ I ’ m a good driver / it won ’ t happen to me ”
“ I won ’ t get caught ”
“ I can get away with it ”
“ Haven ’ t the police got anything better to do ?”
• Unfortunately , research consistently tells us that most drivers believe they are better than average , and hence may support laws against mobile phone use , and even appreciate some education campaigns - all the time thinking that they are useful for other drivers and not themselves . This can be challenged by a reminder that none of the people who are killed or injured in crashes thought it would be them either .
• It is also worth pointing out that if indeed we are better than average , then we need to always concentrate on the road around us - because we think we are surrounded by people who are not as capable as us ! We would not want to encourage drivers to believe that they are indeed better than average , but we can point out that we cannot protect ourselves from the mistakes of other drivers if we are looking at our phones .
• With less police officers on UK roads , individuals may well believe they can commit an offence without experiencing the legal repercussions associated with it . Those people should be reminded that the consequences of mobile phone use are not just fines and points ...
• Online reporting capabilities for drivers , such as Operation Snap , are useful here . Individuals who believe that they can commit offences without being caught should be reminded of the potential for any road user to submit evidence of offending behaviour to the police . Similarly , it ’ s worth pointing out that the police use other vehicles ( not just police cars ) to look for offending drivers .
• Unfortunately , this is quite a popular challenge . Try asking challengers if they know the numbers of people who were killed in violent crimes in the last year , and the numbers killed on the roads in their area . Numbers of murders are eclipsed by road deaths , and this can be used to demonstrate why roads policing is necessary and legitimate .
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