At 100 km/h, a car covers roughly 28 metres every second — so a five-second glance down at a phone means travelling well over a hundred metres without any eyes on the road. Distraction doesn't have to be visual, either: even hands-free conversations can pull cognitive attention away from driving, a phenomenon researchers call "inattention blindness," where a driver can look directly at a hazard and still fail to consciously register it because their mind is elsewhere. Texting is particularly dangerous because it combines visual, manual and cognitive distraction all at once. The safest practice remains simple: phones out of reach or on silent while driving, with calls and messages left until you've safely stopped.
Source: National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it legal to use a phone while driving in South Africa?
Using a handheld phone while driving is prohibited under South African road traffic law — check current regulations for hands-free requirements, as rules can be updated.
Are hands-free calls completely safe?
They remove the physical handling risk, but research shows conversations can still cause cognitive distraction that reduces a driver's awareness of the road.
What is 'inattention blindness'?
It's when a driver's eyes are on the road but their attention is elsewhere, causing them to fail to consciously process a hazard even though they looked directly at it.
What's a practical way to avoid phone distraction while driving?
Put your phone on silent or do-not-disturb and out of easy reach before you start driving, so there's no temptation to glance at it.