Texting and driving NZ law lenient as France bans phones even when pulled over

Friday, 9 February 2018

The number of people caught breaking the cellphone driving law now outnumbers the number of people caught drink-driving. (File photo)

ANALYSIS: In France, it is no longer sufficient to pull over to the side of the road to use a cellphone while driving. Should drivers need to use a phone, they must park in a designated parking spot and turn off the engine.

The New Zealand Automobile Association (AA) said this was likely a strategic move to lower France's rising road toll. In France, road deaths totalled almost 3500 in 2016.

In the 12 months to June, 2017, 27,681 people were caught using cellphones while driving.

New Zealand's road toll has also been surging in recent years. There were 327 road deaths in 2016, 379 in 2017, and 381 in the 12 months to February 9. In 2017, the number of people caught using cellphones while driving outnumbered those caught drink-driving - with 27,681 people caught in the 12 months to June.

The French government has been cracking down on driving regulations by lowering speed limits on two-lane highways to 80kmh from 90kmh and enforcing stricter punishments for phone ban violations, speeding, and drink-driving. Should New Zealand look to enforce stricter cellphone rules on the road?

* New Zealand's road toll on track for highest total in years

* Call to penalise drivers harder for using cellphones while driving as road toll soars**

France's new cellphone restrictions would not apply to hands-free use, but would prohibit headphones and earphones.

SHOULD NZ FOLLOW FRANCE?

From the AA's perspective, it was sufficient for drivers to pull over to use a cellphone in a car.

'That's one of the things we encourage people to do,' AA road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said.

'If you're unable to resist using your phone or you have a call you need to take then and there, pull over. Stop. Park somewhere safe on the side of the road, make your call and then get back on the road. If we could get everyone in New Zealand doing that, that would be a great step forward for us,' he said.

Thomsen thought France's new law was a 'pretty extreme idea', but it showed how desperate some countries were to lower the road toll.

'It probably just reflects some of the challenges that countries all around the world are trying to grapple with about how to reduce the number of people who are using their phones when they are behind the wheel,' he said.

A New Zealand Police spokeswoman said drivers needed to remember to put their passengers and other road users first.

'Nobody wants to share the road with a driver who is not paying full attention,' she said.

'If you are stopped at traffic lights or similar that is still deemed to be an act of driving, so phones cannot be used under those circumstances either.'

SLOWER REACTION TIMES

Using a cellphone while driving increased drivers' risk of a crash, Thomsen said, because it rendered them unable to focus all their attention on their driving.

'You become more likely to miss seeing something or not notice what someone on the road is doing around you. All it takes is one or two seconds of you being slower to realising what is happening, and that can be enough.'

A 2014 Ministry of Transport survey of 29,000 moving vehicles carried out at 52 sites around the country captured one in every 40 drivers using a handheld phone.

But we don't need surveys to know it is a problem, Thomsen said.

'Anybody on the roads can see with their own eyes it's way too common and we've got a problem,' he said.

'It's mind-boggling when you see people travelling at 100kmh or through dangerous situations that have a phone stuck up to their ear or you see them looking down into their lap as they drive.'

The challenge for police and the AA was not so much around the law as changing people's perceptions, Thomsen said.

'If people recognised that it was really risky then they probably wouldn't do it. I don't think there are many people who don't know it's illegal to use their phones while driving. They know the law, but we've got a substantial amount of people who decide to break it.'

CELLPHONE DRIVING BAN

Under the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004, it is illegal to use a hand-held cellphone to:

* Make, receive or terminate phone calls

* Create, send or read texts or emails

* Create, send or view video messages

* Communicate in any other way

Breaching the ban incurs an $80 fine and 20 demerit points.

Drivers can use a cellphone to make a call while driving only if it is an emergency situation and unsafe or impracticable to stop the vehicle to make the call.

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