Why can't we get tougher on Auckland motorists using mobile phones?

Tuesday, 24 July 2018

Are fines too weak for motorists who have been caught using their cell phones?

OPINION: It's long overdue - it's now time we started getting tougher on motorists using mobiles.

Commuting daily - particularly on Auckland's roads and motorways, you see a variety of heinous acts in the traffic. From drivers too impatient to queue for a space who push in to zigzagging drivers looking to get there quicker but snarling up traffic, there's no doubt driving behaviour appears to be getting worse.

Nowhere is this more apparent than the number of people using mobile phones, while driving something that could - and frequently does - kill.

It's time we got real and starting being more serious about punishing drivers who are caught doing so.

**READ MORE:

We simply can't put down the cellphone - but it's time we did.

* Auckland motorists caught using mobile phones

* Cameras detect and penalise Aussie drivers on phones

* Dangers of the New Zealand road**

A survey in mid-June this year found one in every 30 Auckland motorists were using their mobile while driving.

Booze buses are a regular occurrence on our roads - is it time to see them in force for mobile phone users too?

Think about that for a second - gauge that against the number of cars you see on a daily commute and let that settle in. The One Task survey found 671 motorists of 18,651 vehicles weren't concentrating on the task at hand - that's staggering and it's lucky a percentage of those 671 weren't involved in some kind of crash.

Personally, I think that number's too low.

Certainly this past week when commuting at all times of the day on Auckland's motorways, I've witnessed people holding the phone flat and trying to dial and converse while heading into traffic that's come to a near standstill unexpectedly.

I've seen one woman use her mobile phone's camera to apply make up. Because having three mirrors around the car is clearly not enough to help put that on when it can't wait.

And I've seen people who clearly have limited attention spans checking their phones while queueing in traffic or at lights - holding up other drivers because they're clearly not concentrating on the road.

We need to get a bit more accountable for this behaviour.

We never hear of crackdowns on the people using mobiles on roads - sure, we get crackdowns for going 4 km/h over the limit on long weekends; we see booze buses pulling over people after Friday nights and weekend drinkies - but I've yet to see a release stating a week-long blitz of drivers using mobile phones has yielded effective results, and 300 smartphones have been confiscated and crushed as a result.

In June, police revealed they'd caught 29,000 motorists using phones - the highest number yet.

Police stated in June that 29,000 drivers had been caught driving and using a phone - the highest number ever recorded, so clearly there is some monitoring going on.

I'm not advocating police need to spend more of their time sat on roads watching for mobile phone use daily - although I do reckon cameras potentially at key points of the motorway section may prove pause for thought.

I think it's about time the penalties for using phones were dramatically upped though to stop this scourge.

Currently, they stand at $80 and 20 demerit points.

Inattentive driving is fatal - but why aren't we recognising that?

That's pathetic - particularly given the fatal consequences and I've rarely seen it enforced.

In Auckland alone, you can get fined $150 for either using a bus lane and obstructing traffic or fined $150 for not paying a bus fare. That's nearly double for doing something that's highly unlikely to cause a loss of life. (And don't get me started on the costs of those fines in comparison to their offences.)

So, what's the solution? Is it a case of upping the fines and demerits and launching some kind of regular blitzes?

Should car manufacturers include hands-free gear in their products as standard?

Maybe.

Or just maybe, take some personal responsibility, put the damn phone down, and concentrate on the road - as well as others around you.

Start when you get in your car at your home - leave the phone in the bag, or invest in hands-free technology. After all this behaviour is passed on subconsciously to other family members and absorbed by little faces sat in the cars with you.

There's nothing more important than your life or others around you - sure, it's a message we've heard time and time again, but it's clearly not sinking in.

It's about time driver behaviour was changed and this obsessive belief we have that we're untouchable in our cars stopped killing us.

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