'Two strikes' and you lose your licence – calls to beef up cellphone driving laws

Friday, 9 July 2021

Critics say the increase in fines from $80 to $150 for cellphone use while driving doesn't go far enough.

A former roading cop is calling for a “two strikes” system against cellphone use while driving, saying penalties aren’t tough enough.

Taupō district councillor and former police officer Kevin Taylor told Stuff the 20 demerit point penalty on cellphone use should increase to 50 demerit points, meaning a driver would lose their driver’s licence for three months if caught using their cellphone twice in two years.

And he’s not alone.

Stuff has captured numerous drivers using cellphones while driving in Ponsonby, Auckland, as the Government hikes fines for using phones at the wheel. (First published May 2021)

The National Party agrees, arguing demerit points should be increased, and a driver behaviour expert says the Government’s recent fine increase from $80 to $150 is unlikely to change many people’s risky behaviour.

* Higher fines for cellphone use 'no silver bullet' to curb distracted driving - AA

* Government to hike infringement fee for cellphone use while driving to $150

Kevin Taylor is a former police officer who says using a cellphone while driving is “an unacceptable risk” and should carry a penalty of 50 demerit points.

Taylor said there should be a “two strikes” and lose your licence system, when caught using a cellphone behind the wheel.

Taylor was a police officer for 44 years until 2015, and he spent eight of those years as Bay of Plenty road policing inspector.

He’s seen hundreds of crashes across his career and said many were “completely avoidable”.

Professor Samuel Charlton was among a group of academics who in 2009 called on the National government to outlaw all mobile phone use – including hands-free phone use.

“Demerit points are a significant motivator for people, particularly those who are sitting on one lot of demerit points away from losing their driver’s licence, because that affects their ability to move, their employment, their social life.”

Fines were ineffectual for many, simply building up and up.

“You need to have meaningful consequences for behaviour that’s creating an unacceptable risk,” he told Stuff.

According to Waka Kotahi-NZ Transport Agency, between 2015 and July 2021 there were 22 fatal crashes, 73 serious injury crashes, and 510 minor injury crashes linked to cellphone use.

In April, the Government increased the fine for using a cellphone while driving from $80 to $150.

Taylor said that penalty didn’t go far enough, because drivers had to be caught behind the wheel five times for any major consequences to occur.

University of Waikato psychology professor Samuel Charlton, who specialises in driver behaviour, said the risk of phone distraction was so great that even hands-free use behind the wheel should be outlawed.

Charlton was among a group of researchers to call on the National government in 2009 to make all mobile phone use illegal.

That law did not pass, but it would have been a good time to change the culture before people got used to it, he said.

“Hands-free use is just as bad. There’s this thing called a mobile phone hangover, so for quite a few minutes after you have a conversation, you’re still at risk, because you’re still thinking about that conversation.

“People say my job depends on it, that they need information from a dispatcher while driving … everyone's used to doing it now, but they don't realise how bad their driving is becoming.”

He agreed the $150 fine, with 20 demerit points, was not enough to stop some texting drivers.

Threatening more demerit points was a “good idea” but enforcement alone couldn’t change driver behaviour.

Transport Minister Michael Wood said he wasn’t ruling out changes to the cellphone driving penalty.

Education – getting people to really understand the risks – and engineering, such as an automatic “do not disturb” technology kicking in when a phone is in motion, were equally important.

Charlton said authorities threw up “artificial roadblocks”, such as difficulty of enforcement, as excuses not to get tougher on all cellphone use.

National’s transport spokesman Michael Woodhouse said he supported an increase in demerit points for those caught using cellphones.

“One of the things I’m aware of, that research shows, is that the fear of losing one’s licence is a much greater motivator to behaviour than a fine.

“We are hearing stories of young people racking up thousands of dollars of fines without paying them off.”

Woodhouse said the number of demerit points – whether someone should get a second or third strike – would need to be looked into.

He said the Government had eroded “a fear of getting caught” by dropping funding for road policing in the 2021 budget.

But he said he was focused on toughening penalties for cellphone use, rather than general hands-free use when driving.

Transport Minister Michael Wood rejected the opposition spokesman’s criticisms as an “amazing about-face” from someone who had responsibility for road safety under the last government but did not make any changes to cellphone penalty.

But he did not rule out changes to the law around cellphone use, including the fine and number of demerit points, saying it would be reviewed alongside other road safety penalties later in 2021.

“Driver distraction is a serious road safety issue, and inattention – including from mobile phones – can have tragic consequences,” Wood said.

“We increased the infringement fee to $150 so that it matched similar offences, and it’s our way of saying Kiwis need to put away the phone while driving.”