Texting while driving illegal in Peru; relevant stats likely

UNCLAS LIMA 000228 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ECPS SOCI UNDP UNGA PE SUBJECT: Texting while driving illegal in Peru; relevant stats likely unavailable REF: STATE 6703 ¶1. SUMMARY: Text messaging while driving is illegal in Peru under its law that prohibits the use of cell phones while driving. While some statistics are available relating to Peru road accidents, the Vice Minister expressed doubt that any estimates about accidents due to messaging would be reliable, given that drivers likely would not admit to texting if this was the proximate cause of a crash. END SUMMARY. ¶2. Economic Counselor delivered reftel demarche to Vice Minister of Transportation Hjalmar Marangunich Rachumi of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications explaining the significant and increasing risk in the use of text messaging while driving. ¶3. Marangunich advised that Peruvian law prohibits the use of cell phones while driving and that logically, text messaging is included in this prohibition. He qualified that "hands free" cell phone usage is not prohibited while driving within Peru, at least in practice, noting that this is based on the concept that the driver should keep both hands on the wheel. (He added that keeping both hands available for driving is also an underlying reason that Peru prohibits the application of makeup while driving.) ¶4. As a new vice minister who took his position in December, Marangunich took the opportunity to explain the functions of his ministry, and noted that, similar to the United States, various governmental entities have responsibility for different highways and roads. Nevertheless, the restriction on cell phone usage applies to all roads in Peru. ¶5. Marangunich promised to forward some statistics available on accidents and their causes. But he advised that beyond obvious scenarios (such as where a driver has been killed while talking on the phone and the other person on the call hears the accident), most drivers tend not to attribute accidents to their personal cell phone usage. He also expressed his opinion that the most critical problem with drivers in Peru is that many do not honor stoplights. ¶6. BACKGROUND: Three major telecommunications companies offer cellular phone service in Peru, Moviestar, Nextel and Claro. Overall coverage encompasses 88.6 percent of all political districts. All three companies offer text messaging services. Currently estimated at 24 million cell phone lines in the country, this sector grew rapidly in the second half of the last decade. Between 2005 and 2009 cellular phone lines grew from 5.583 million to 23.480 million, with a current market penetration of approximately 80 percent. END BACKGROUND. ¶7. COMMENT: Peru's level of traffic fatalities is indeed a matter of serious concern. According to the World Health Organization's Global Status on Road Safety, 2009, Peru ranks second to Venezuela in the Western Hemisphere in road death rates (at 21.5 per 100,000 population versus 21.8 for Venezuela and 13.9 for the United States). However, given the aggressiveness with which many Peruvians drive on congested roads, most drivers understand that unexpected movements will occur several times each minute. While texting likely takes place, it probably is not practiced nearly as much as in countries where drivers think the roads are safe. In addition to overall aggressiveness of drivers in Peru, other commonly cited concerns alcohol consumption (blamed for 10.8 percent of deaths per the WHO) and failure to yield to pedestrians. These likely plague Peru's roadways more than accidents due to text messaging. McKinley