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UAE Police Claim BlackBerry Outage Made Roads Safer

Posted by Soulskill on from the keep-your-thumbs-at-ten-and-two dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Road traffic accidents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai plummeted last week — and the local police have a theory as to why: drivers' BlackBerrys weren't working. Police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have claimed that last week's worldwide BlackBerry outage, which frustrated business people around the world who were unable to communicate with their colleagues, had one positive result — less texting and reading of emails by people who should have been concentrating on driving instead. There could be other factors at play, however. For instance, popular UAE soccer player Theyab Awana was killed in a high speed crash near Abu Dhabi in September, amid claims that he was sending a message on his BlackBerry when he hit a lorry. The football star's father, Awana Ahmad Al Mosabi, made an emotional plea to people not to use smartphones while driving, and a Facebook campaign against the use of BlackBerry Messenger while driving has grown in popularity."

11 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. "campaign against the use of ... while driving" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, blame BlackBerries and their incredibly difficult to type on keyboards.

    In all seriousness, though, why isn't it a campaign against texting while driving?

    1. Re:"campaign against the use of ... while driving" by tqk · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You've never used a full-sized Blackberry (Bold, Tour), have you?

      So, it was the fault of them not using full-sized keyboard BBs that was the problem? And you now feel safe texting while driving?

      --
      "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:"campaign against the use of ... while driving" by squizzar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because as someone who also uses the roads I'd prefer not to be selected out of the gene pool by some cunt who has some desperate need to send texts and make calls whilst in the middle of dense, fast moving rush hour traffic. Not all rules are there to protect you from yourself...

  2. Pay attention to the road! by msobkow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Having seen people swerving from lane to lane while talking or texting, there's no doubt in my mind cell usage while driving should be banned.

    But I'm amazed that Abu Dhabi and Dubai have such a high penetration of Blackberries in their country that the outage could actually make a difference in road safety statistics. That's just amazing to me.

    I wonder what would happen to the safety stats if all cell phones were disabled for a day as an experiment? (Not that it'll ever happen.)

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:Pay attention to the road! by LurkerXXX · · Score: 3, Informative

      I once, swear to god, was passed on the highway by a guy playing a clarinet while driving. Freaked me out. And I'm a driver who is usually going faster than most folks, so he was hauling. There are some nutters out there. I'm sure he'll end up killing someone.

  3. Banninate it. by FyberOptic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Most people accept that texting and cellphones cause accidents. But, most people also think they're better drivers than everyone else, and therefore it's okay for them to do it. Even cops do it. I see them all the time.

    The only solution is making it illegal internationally. But considering the U.S. alone only bans it in a handful of states, we have a long way to go of convincing people that their ego doesn't make it okay.

    1. Re:Banninate it. by dark_requiem · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As a quick aside, cops in general seem to be pretty shitty drivers. Had a couple incidents where cops who were simply talking to their partners nearly swerved in to me.

      But, more to the point, it's a slippery slope issue. Eating in your car is also distracting. Do you solve it by banning drive-throughs? Reading in your car is a distraction. Do cops issue tickets if they see an atlas or a copy of the local newspaper on the seat when they pull you over? How about if you jotted down directions to where you're going, and a cop sees you check the paper to see if your exit is coming up? How about unruly kids in the back seat? Quite distracting, but you don't hear calls for kids to be anesthetized before getting in a car (although...).

      Point is, if the government takes it upon themselves to enact a new rule, regulation, or prohibition for every danger in the world, then there's nothing you can do freely. There are laws against swerving dangerously from lane to lane in traffic. There are laws against running people over, or slamming blindly headlong into a telephone poll. Some people can multitask to the point where they can talk on the phone and drive. Some people need a hands-free device to achieve the same result. Some people (and I'm in this category) would rather stammer through a conversation and lose their train of thought because their primary focus is on driving, not talking. Some people just can't pull it off at all. You, like most statists, are proposing a one-size-fits-all solution to a problem that doesn't have one. At its core, what you suggest is no different than solving alcoholism or other forms of drug abuse through prohibition.

    2. Re:Banninate it. by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To add to the last post:

      Some people can multitask to the point where they can talk on the phone and drive. Some people need a hands-free device to achieve the same result.

      A lot less than many people think. Most overestimate their abilities:
      http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794

      Which is a very American trait, I noticed:
      http://desicritics.org/2006/10/20/012720.php

      Kind of like how those people who "work" 12 hours a day, brag about it, and lag behind people who work an honest 8 hours a day in productive because they spend most of the time at the watercooler or on the internet. Seriously, when you're driving, please drive - stop overestimating your abilities when they really get reduced by not paying attention. If you don't want to do that, either carpool with someone who doesn't have that problem and is willing to drive, or use mass transit.

      But stfu because you can't stop diddling with your smartphone for 30 seconds and want to bullshit the rest of us that you're just as good with it as without it.

  4. Re:Don't Ban the whole US by hedwards · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's still dangerous even if you are in rural Nebraska, even if it isn't as dangerous as it is in the cities and there's ultimately no reason why one should be talking on the phone without at least a headset.

  5. Re:Don't Ban the whole US by sitkill · · Score: 4, Informative

    False sense of security.

    There have been studies, and more well known, mythbusters did an episode on something very similar (is talking on a cellphone while driving just as bad as drinking and driving), and while mythbusters is a bit hollywood science at times, they confirmed the myth. Texting isn't that far off. And in other studies, is just as bad.

    But don't take my word for it, take a look at all the studies and materials.

    There's a reason why texting/talking on the phone is rapidly becoming illegal while driving. But hey! Maybe in Nebraska, facts and truths aren't the norm!

  6. Playing violin on interstate by jbov · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My family and I were traveling on I-95 in the US and saw a woman playing a violin while driving. No joke. Presumably, she was steering with her knees. In disbelief, I wanted to get a better look, but I wouldn't risk being in the lane adjacent to her. I think we need a campaign to ban playing musical instruments while driving.