AA President Edmund King Champions iPod Distractions Cause & Supports Tune into Traffic

In late July of this year, Tune into Traffic was privileged to be represented at the eSafety Challenge event in Millbrook, UK. The event, hosted by the FIA Foundation and the European Commission brough together hundreds of road safety professionals, activists and manufactures to highlight the imperative progression of eSafe driving, this means smarter cars to the rest of us.

At this event, Manpreet Darroch, Tune into Traffic's director met with Edmund King, President of the Automobile Associate (AA) and shared views on the earphone and iPod distraction issue. Mr King, a high profile figure in the road safety industry recently published an article championing the effort to raise awareness about this rising trend. The AA's Insurance branch stated that pedestrian carelessness could be the cause of 17 collisions a day, with crashes of this kind increasing 5% in the past year. Mr King's article was picked up by thw world press and has reached the four corners of the world prompting a serious review of road safety initiatives which focus on distractions.

With this news story going worldwide, we are proud that Mr Edmund King is an avid supporter of Tune into Traffic and agrees with our mission principles. Ipods, mp3 players and technology bring much joy to our lives but with them come fresh dangers, problems and risks. In collaboration with this fresh effort, Tune into Traffic who first raised awareness about this cause in 2008 is very encouraged in the move to hold pedestrians, drivers and cyclist responsible for their musical antics on the road.

Back in 2008, Tune into Traffic featured a 30 minute documentary exclusively on this issue. Mr King expressed that 'young people are some of the most effected but you only have to walk to a street in london and see that thousands of adults both as pedestrians/cyclists and drivers are doing the same'.

The AA prides itself on offer the best quality driving instruction and post driving education. Manpreet Darroch and Mr King are now in talks on collaboration in this area. 'It is only through collective action and collaboration can we combat the rising trend of mp3 oblivion and reduce the amount of people being killed or seriously injurred on our nation's roads', said Mr Darroch.

This is a serious issue and in partnership with the efforts of the AA and leading road safety related associations, Tune into Traffic continues this important work.