April 21, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1429

RAWALPINDI, April 20: Mobile phones and driving have never gone well together and across the world police are keen to clamp down on drivers who chat on their hand sets while at the wheel. Authorities, however, allow the use of hands-free mobile phones.

In Pakistan many drivers, even police officials use their mobile phones while driving, knowing it could be risky and cause unforeseen hazards

Motorists using a mobile phone not only mentally but even physically suffer distraction and lack of attention doing two jobs at one time. Drivers need to concentrate on both driving and phoning. It can result in drivers’ not noticing traffic signals in time, braking too late and sometimes creating a situation for a fatal accident.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police traffic, Sabir Ahmad, there has been a relaxation for the motorists using hands- free mobile phones while at the wheels. But according to traffic police rules, there is a fine of Rs200 for motorcyclists using a mobile phone while at the wheels, a fine of Rs500 for motorists, and a fine of Rs1,000 for public transport drivers. The SSP traffic said: “mobile phone users have greater chances of being involved in a crash as the best driver can be physically distracted if he drives a vehicle and uses a mobile phone at the same time.”

Sometimes, the traffic police officials, whose job it is to capture the motorists violating the restriction of using a mobile phone, are themselves seen viol;ating the law while on wheels.