Your thoughts on our texting and driving problem

Wednesday, 13 November 2019

Have you ever spotted someone texting while driving on a New Zealand motorway?

What about someone talking on the phone while stopped at a red light? Or checking messenger while crawling along in peak-hour traffic?

Situations like this happen all the time in New Zealand, even though we banned using phones while driving 10 years ago.

A driver is 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash when texting on a mobile phone while driving. The decision to pick up a phone while at the wheel not only puts the driver at risk, but also other passengers and road users, and it can have tragic consequences.

So we want to hear from New Zealanders about our texting and driving problem.

Have you been in an accident caused by a distracted driver on their phone? Or maybe you've witnessed an incident, or seen a scary near-miss?

Have you lost a loved-one in an accident where a phone played the part in driver distraction?

Or have you been a driver that's become distracted by a mobile phone. What happened? Looking back, what would you have done differently?

Maybe you're a police officer, nurse or doctor who's seen tragedy first-hand and has an important message to share.

Whatever your thoughts, key messages, views and solutions to our texting and driving problem, we want to hear them.

Share them with us by hitting the big button below. We accept submissions of 300 words or more. App users email: stuffnation@stuff.co.nz