The road safety campaign “When driving, your mobile phone can wait”, which runs until Tuesday, May 20, includes awareness-raising actions by the ANSR and inspection operations by the GNR and PSP, say the authorities, in a joint statement.
The campaign's objective is to alert drivers about the negative and even fatal consequences of improper cell phone use while driving.
The awareness-raising actions take place in conjunction with the inspection operations scheduled for Complementary Itinerary (IC) 5 in Vila Flor (Bragança), on Avenida das Cantarias, in Bragança, on National Road (EN) 377 at the Alfarim Roundabout, in Sesimbra, on Rua São Martinho and on Avenida do Cávado, in Braga.
In the note, ANSR, GNR and PSP remind that "at 50 kilometres per hour (km/h), looking at your cell phone for three seconds is the same as driving a distance of 42 metres blindfolded, the equivalent of a line of 10 cars".
They also warn that using a cell phone while driving "increases the likelihood of having an accident by four times, causing an increase in reaction time to unforeseen situations."
This is the fifth of 11 awareness and monitoring campaigns planned for this year under the 2025 PNF.
By the end of the year, six more campaigns will be carried out, one per month, with awareness and inspection actions.
Please make driving with a phone illegal. We are risking our lives, and the facts in this article prove it. I have been in many many Bolts and many get on their phones. I anlways give the driver 2 or 3 minutes to finish their call, but every time I politely ask the driver to turn it off, they tell me it’s an emergency call, even though I hear them casually chatting for minutes. As I said it is very dangerous and it shouldn’t have to take deaths to show this, or pass a law. Thank you.
By Ro SantiEsteban from Lisbon on 19 May 2025, 03:23