Using Cell Phones Safely When Driving

A potential customer asked me the other day what kind of statistics we had regarding accidents when not using cellphones safely. They wanted driving stats in addition to cost savings in justifying the hereiam™ service to senior management. Before going further, I want to emphasize that our service fully complies with both Canadian and U.S. government regulations for using a cell device while driving. We built our service from the ground up with driving safety being mandatory at the start.

Back to the stats, they are frightening if you’re not using your cellphone safely:

· This one is pretty obvious- those who die in traffic accidents are just as dead whether killed by drug use, fatigue, falling asleep at the wheel, alcohol intoxication, or inattention caused by cell phone use while driving

· According to an Allstate Canada study conducted in July, 2010, approximately 80% of collisions are caused by distracted driving

· In 2010, there were 7,733 collisions on OPP-patrolled roads where the driver was deemed to be inattentive/distracted, resulting in 35 deaths, 1,040 injuries and considerable property damage

· In 2009 and before safe driving became law, 5,474 people were killed in the U.S. because of accidents that involved distracted driving. Another 448,000 were injured

· The 30- to 39-year-old age group had the highest percentage of cell phone use in these fatal crashes

· 4 out of every 5 accidents (80%) are also attributed in the U.S. to distracted drivers. In contrast, drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nationally

· One-fifth of experienced adult drivers send text messages while driving

· A Canadian Automobile Association poll of 6,000 Canadian drivers found that “texting while driving” is the single biggest traffic safety concern of drivers while on the road

· Some good news in all of this- J.D. Powers, in their May 2011 study, highlighted that drivers are increasingly looking for technology solutions to legally and safely make calls or check email while driving.

At hereiammobile, we build solutions to help organizations work better when mobile and improve the safety of their employees. hereiam™ does emails using one button access and voice commands, hereiam™ takes messages, sets up conferences, calls clients by name or number and dictates memos all in a single session. hereiam™ also notifies you of any voice messages via SMS and can email voice messages to you. You can use your in-car system, Bluetooth or hands-free device with your hereiam™ Contact List that goes wherever you go.

So bottom line here, safe driving is now the law! You must use an in-car, Bluetooth or hands-free device when using your cell in the car. Adding hereiam™ not only gives you hands-free email and terrific cost savings but you also get a mobile office to make you more productive and efficient. Plus, hereiam™ is a service that goes wherever you go- you’re not restricted to the car. Use hereiam™ at the airport, in your hotel room, at a client site or when travelling out of country for increased productivity and tremendous cost savings. But definitely use hereiam™ while in the car for driving safety.