Watch: How Facebook live video claims 3 lives
We all know how usage of mobile phone is banned while driving all over the world as they distract the driver which can lead to fatal road accidents and there is enough data to support this theory. Since the usage of live video sharing services such as Snapchat and Facebook Live has increased, the number of car crashes due to these services has also gone up. Recently, a similar incident was recorded in a Facebook live video where four youngsters were driving around in Maruti 800 near Tengpora, Srinagar.
In the video, it is seen that none of the passengers was wearing a seatbelt and the car was being driven at high-speed with loud music. The accident took place when the driver was distracted by the co-passenger who was using Facebook live and when the driver tried to overtake a Hyundai Creta, he lost control of the vehicle and rammed the car in the divider. The sound of the impact can be clearly heard in the video.
Three youth died on the spot while one was seriously injured from the accident. The video is a proof that how dangerous distracted driving can be. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India currently has 1 billion mobile phone subscribers. Due to the high penetration of mobile phones, their use on the road has also increased as proven by this study with 1 out of 2 respondents of this survey had used a phone while driving. Unfortunately, in India, there is no data that is being currently captured at the crash site by authorities to record the connection between mobile phone usage and crashes.
As per the data compiled by World Health Organisation(WHO), approximately 1.2 million people are killed in car crashes every year. Over the past decade, road rash has become the 10th leading cause of death in the world and is expected to rise to 5th position by 2030. India is the number one contributor to global road crash mortality and morbidity figures. Every hour, 16 lives are lost to road crashes in India. In the last decade alone, India lost 1.3 million people to road crashes and another 5.3 million were disabled for life.