Texting behind the wheel 'harmless': agency
Published: 11 Apr 12 09:01 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/40192/20120411/
There is no reason to ban texting and talking on mobile phones without hands-free while driving, according to a report from the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute (Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut - VTI), handed to the government on Wednesday.
- Riksbank unveils new board members (22 May 13)
- The 'absolute truth' about tacos in Stockholm (21 May 13)
- 'Lean hospital a sign of Swedish welfare reform' (20 May 13)
VTI hopes instead that emerging technology in mobiles will increase traffic safety, according to the TT news agency.
The Local reported in June 2010 that a survey from insurance firm Trygg Hansa indicated that almost every second Swede has read or written a mobile phone text while driving.
The survey prompted the then infrastructure minister Åsa Torstensson to issue a statement saying that a ban was not the solution:
“For it to be effective you would need a total ban, as it is the calls themselves and their content that distracts the driver. Hands-free doesn’t help and I can’t see a total ban being passed,” she said at the time.
The news comes despite a recent push by the Riksdagen to ban texting and talking without handsfree, a move which was supported by Susanne Lekengård of motoring organisation Motormännen.
“Sweden is usually a pioneering country when it comes to road safety. Texting while driving is usually compared to drunk driving, due to the level of concentration required," Lekengård told The Local at the time.
Sweden remains on an increasingly thinning list of European countries allowing mobile phone use while driving, without using hands-free. The others on the list being Albania, Serbia, Moldova and Malta.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Parent patrols help quell Stockholm riots
Parents and volunteers have been patrolling the streets of Stockholm's immigrant-heavy suburbs to help quell riots that have raged for almost a week, serving as a successful deterrent to troublemakers and winning praise from police. READ () »
Police hunt man after woman found dead
Police are hunting a 40-year-old man after a woman was found dead in a suburb of Stockholm on Saturday. READ () »
Two cars collide as elk gives birth on road
Two cars collided on a road between Trollhättan and Vänersborg in western Sweden on Friday afternoon due to an elk having chosen the unusual spot to give birth to a calf. READ () »
Dad slams booze delivery to 10-year-old son
Express delivery firm DHL has been criticised for having handed over a load of alcohol ordered from Germany to a 10-year-old boy in southern Sweden who was home alone at the time. READ () »
Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night
A sixth straight night of unrest blighted several Stockholm suburbs on Friday night, spreading briefly to the city of Örebro, 160 kilometres to the west. READ () »
Stockholm's not burning
With international media swooping on the Stockholm riots from every angle, The Local's Oliver Gee explains why Stockholm is not burning, and how the story has been blown out of proportion. READ () »
Stockholm riots: causes and consequences
After five nights of rioting throughout the outskirts of Stockholm, many in Sweden and elsewhere are trying to make sense of it all. The Local spoke to a mix of commentators and local politicians to get their views. READ () »
Swedish firms 'clueless' about foreign graduates
As white-collar union Saco slammed Sweden for not helping well-educated foreigners into the labour market, The Local spoke to researcher Josefin Edström about the disconnect between foreign professionals and Swedish employers. READ () »
- 25/05 Police hunt man after woman found dead »
- 25/05 Parent patrols help quell Stockholm riots »
- 25/05 Two cars collide as elk gives birth on road »
- 25/05 Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night »
- 24/05 Swedish riot police to call in reinforcements »
- 24/05 Stockholm's not burning »
- 24/05 Stockholm riots: causes and consequences »
- 24/05 US and UK issue travel warnings for Sweden »
- 24/05 Man held for murder after new body parts find »
- 24/05 Schools burn on fifth night of Stockholm riots »
- 25/05 Merkel: business must fight immigrant prejudice »
- 25/05 Chinese premier visit to strengthen trade ties »
More news from Germany at thelocal.de
More news from France at thelocal.fr
More news from Norway at thelocal.no
More news from Switzerland at thelocal.ch
In cooperation with DoToday
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
- Corporate Sports Sales Executives
- Finance Director/Senior Fund Controller
- Interim Business Controller
- Internal Communications Officer
- INTERNATIONAL SALES EXECUTIVE
- Online Functional Designer
- RAW Tailor special project Stockholm
- Regional Sales Manager - Nordic EMEA (Mobility)
- Senior IT Project Manager, Husqvarna Group
- Accounts Payable to Bosch Rexroth
"BANG!!!! BANG!!!! BANG!!! In the midst of the Stanley Cup’s Eastern Conference semifinals series, every Bostonian knows it is all about Bruins ice hockey. Oh right. I am in Sweden, home of the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation GOLD Champions. And there is certainly no doubt ice hockey fever has taken over Sweden. A lot of Swedes,..." READ »
- 23/5 09:23 REFLECTIONS OF A TWITTER VIRGIN…. (The Diplomatic Dispatch)
- 21/5 21:34 WEEK 21 (Stripes News)
- 16/5 08:32 Be British, be sincere and be bold (Brits Mean Business)
- Corporate Sports Sales Executives
- Finance Director/Senior Fund Controller
- Interim Business Controller
- Internal Communications Officer
- INTERNATIONAL SALES EXECUTIVE
- Online Functional Designer
- RAW Tailor special project Stockholm
- Regional Sales Manager - Nordic EMEA (Mobility)
- Senior IT Project Manager, Husqvarna Group
- Accounts Payable to Bosch Rexroth
- 21:12 Tuition fees across Europe
- 21:11 Husby Riots and violence against the police...
- 19:12 Phone landline installation
- 18:27 Salary for a cashier working at ICA, COOP?
- 17:34 Canada vs. Sweden
- 16:54 Driving to Sweden from the UK
- 13:22 Sweden, English News and Alternative Media...
- 23:14 Cleaning business in Sweden
- 21:43 Moving to Sweden from England
- 20:24 Moving to Sweden (Questions) HELP
Find products and services that are specifically focused on English speakers living in Sweden!
FULL DETAILS
Individuals & Couples - Stockholm Beth Rogerson PhD - Clinical, Marriage & Family Therapist
Click or call 08-5580 1266 now
Create an account with Banc De Binary, the world’s most reputable binary options firm, and start cashing in today! You can start by practicing with our free $50,000 demo account.
www.bbinary.com
Expat counsellor & talk therapist offers counselling for stress, relationship issues, sexuality, culture adjustment & life coaching. Private & confidential. Stockholm or Skype. Contact me today! 08-559 22 636 or
CLICK HERE
Casa Birgitta in Algarve, Portugal. Reduced price in best location. Private estate on white sand beach. All amenities included. Book here today! edward_george1@hotmail.com
Your comments about this article:
The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.
What you call a no-brainer is actually a very narrow minded no-brainer and I'm glade Sweden isn't blindly following other countries into such matters. They implemented a similar law in California not that long ago and it didn't make any difference at all. Neither in the number of accidents or the number of deaths that where a result of driving and calling/texting.
I hope they'll let the same guys do the speed limit increase investigation next time around, they seem to be on the right path.
Karcher should be removed from her post, she's obviously not competent
I think Nokia is working on such thing, but not sure if their research is focusing on this aspect or not
This makes me laugh.
Sweden has one of the poorest set of road standards i have seen in many western Europe countries. Signs are not positioned correctly so that a driver has adequate time to see the sign, assess the situation and drive safe, rather that, the signs are AT the hazard. Road markers are virtually non existent so half the time you dont know if it is a wide one lane, or a narrow 2 lane road until you see the faint paint marking of the last road maintenance in 1960. Pot holes the size of small meteorite craters dotting all over the place awaiting its next victim so someone gets a flat tyre. Aggressive drivers changing lanes, weaving in an out because a 4 lane half empty highway that shud have variable speed limit is limited to 60kph.
While answering a phone requires little moment and distraction from looking at the road, texting however required to most people, looking away from the road. and although may not cause many accidents, if that person is doing it at a time where schools out and or many pedestrian crossings, is it really worth that life.
Does this now give us all the go ahead to read a book while driving, read the daily newspaper. Dumb dumb dumb sweden.
I think Nokia is working on such thing, but not sure if their research is focusing on this aspect or not
hmm but then again what will happen to the ones who are not driving :S damn!
Indeed you are right.
But if you read the first paragraph, they state a ban will not make sense because people will still call and text while driving.
So what actually is happening is that texting and calling while driving is not safe but Sweden does not wish to spend time on fining people.
Driving through a red light is also not allowed but you can do this is sweden everywhere because police chooses not to check this.
Or they dont want to spend some time in analyzing the facts, or they're actually really stupid.
Some geniuses around there spend 200.000 kr in a car, and are not able to buy or use the bluetooth hands free on it?
Let me tell you something... denying that using the phone (and even worse, TEXTING) will not increase accidents is denying an actual fact.
And is totally going against the regulations of most of the EU countries that have already adopted (if the majority did it, it means that they might have a good reason, don't they?, or the rest are fools and Sweden not?)
Sooner or later will have to change this, is a matter of time, not a matter of what a bunch of geniuses in the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute might conclude.
Telecommunications companies (Ericsson, TeliaSonera...) make up about 20% of the Stockholm stock index... and it used to be much higher. Need we look further?
its bad for the driver.
its bad for people around the car.
using your phone, ESPECIALLY texting is one of those.
using a handsfree is sort of ok but thats the limit IMHO.
you can't even have ONE BEER in this country but its totally ok to drive and text?!?!?
We discussed this news at lunch at work just now. I am the only non-swede with 4 swedes at the table. We were in unanimous agreement that this announcement is complete bulls**t.
One life saved is surely worth it. Just because Sweden is statistically one of the safest countries in the world re: driving, it doesn't mean there isn't room for further improvement. Bad move Sweden.
No study would ever conclude that it is harmless to add a distraction to any ofther task that requires concentration, and where failure to execute that task properly can have lethal consequences. And just as in drinking and driving, the idiot who is texting might not only kill themselves, but they could also kill you. Even if the texter instinctively slows down while texting, this adds to disruptions in traffic flow that are disruptive and dangerous for other drivers.
Will Katja now tell the world that the pilots of commercial aircraft now have permission to send texts galore and surf Facebook while on their approach path to land at Arlanda?
Volvo put Sweden on the road safety map, but this sort of idiocy will certainly not keep it there other than for negative reasons.
Texting on a phone requires two hands, both eyes, and the attention away from the road, or holding a phone to your ear makes do with one, which is still one hand less with which to control a vehicle - especially at motorway speeds.
The mind boggles at the way these officials think - that is if they do - on this subject. But then, other countries around the world don't know what the VTI knows - or thinks it knows.
another thing that i see as unsafe when driving is having baby chairs in the front seat, just as distracting as a phone or reading a newspaper while driving
Are you delirious?
Do you seriously believe that any study conducted with scientific rigour (as done in the rest of the civilized world) would conclude that composing a text message while driving is the SAME as hands free?
And this 'laws are not working' nonsense is utterly logic-less. Also not easy to keep drug dealers out of gymnasium school yards, so should we just give up and stop trying to make drug dealing on school premises illegal?
Also lunacy to say that such a law cannot be applied.
For example when an accident or incident has occurred it is not rocket science to check if the drivers mobile was in use at the time and throw the book at him/her if it proves to be the case.
"If you hit a guy and you were on cellphone while driving, you are to be set free"
Cool. Now how about abolishing all the silly speed limits that most sensible Swedes don't adhere to?
I was Cm away from being driven off the road by someone using there mobile a few months back. You only need to be behind someone driving and talking into a mobile to realizes how unconcentrated they are. But that's Sweden for you always having to invent the wheel again. :-/
Taylor Sauer knew facebooking while driving was a bad idea.
The 18-year-old college student said so in her last status update: "I can't discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha."
At the time, Sauer was driving 80 mph from the Utah State University campus in Logan to visit her folks in Caldwell, Idaho, and was passing the time on the four-hour drive by messaging her friend about the Denver Broncos, according to MSNBC.com
Moments after her last update, she crashed her car into a tanker truck that was going 15 mph up a hill and was killed instantly.
Coming to Denmark yesterday, at Helsingor a Danish cop pointed to the Swede in the car ahead of me coming off the ferry and indicated that he should not use the phone.
I visit Sweden often and have noticed how Swedes adore their mobile phones. Could it be that the politicians / law-makers are in love with their mobile phone too? You bet they are.
There are some things that Sweden, in spite of all the evidence, cannot let go: Look at snus. Sweden, in these matters, is head-in-the-sand, smug and self-delusional.
Great! I can carry on having near misses..
I have been nearly run over on a designated crossing twice. The 1st time the driver saw me at the last minute and skidded to a halt. The 2nd time they didn't have time to brake so were force to drive around me instead. Both times the drivers (women) had cell phones in their hands.
(which has happended twice)
Compared to the US and Britain, Sweden has a marvelously effective way of encouraging good behavior without threatening people. It's one of the reasons I like to live here.
Texting whil driving is as dangerous as driving while drunk/impaired.
Impound the vehicles of convicted offenders, or confiscate their licenses if they are driving vehicles owned by someone else.
I have been driving here for over ten years now and the number of times recently when someone on a mobile has almost hit me is unbelieveable. Chatting away merrily, looking in the wrong direction on the approach to the roundabout that I was already on and straight out in front of me completely oblivious. The other on one of the lunatic give way to traffic from the right junctions, woman on a mobile just pulled out in front of me even though it was my right of way. Didn't help that at the time I was travelling downhill on ice. The driving in this country is bad enough without letting the Swedish love affair with the mobile phone enter the equation !
making it illegal will not make any difference to the silly people that do it Only a Darwin award will accomplish that properly! After a number of generations only sensible and quick witted people will exist, might even solve the immigration debate as well!
I may be delirious but I'm still correct...every study done with scientific rigour has shown the same results. Hands on or hands free = same level of distraction. This is regarding cell phone conversation. Texting, however, is different and studies show that no one is capable of safely driving while texting. About 4% of drivers are capable of driving safely while speaking on a phone...don't argue with me, it's just science; reasonable and realistic science.