The police should permanently seize cellphones that are operated by the driver of a moving vehicle, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who is an outspoken road safety campaigner, says the current enforcement of laws against cellphone use by drivers is “mostly pathetic”.
“Drivers use cellphones because they usually get away with it. There needs to be a tough new enforcement message: ‘Use it and lose it’ .”
Matthew-Wilson was commenting after the recent sentencing of Auckland company director Solomon Barnes.
Barnes was using a cellphone when his Ford Ranger ute ran down two women walking their dogs near Paremoremo on Sunday, 8 June. Both of the women were seriously injured and their dog had to be put down.
Barnes was on a Zoom call and trying to call his mother in the moments leading up to the crash. He drove off without checking if his victims were alive or dead.
Barnes was sentenced to community work and disqualification.
Matthew-Wilson believes drivers using cellphones should have their phones confiscated at the side of the road.
“First offence you lose your cellphone. Second offence you lose your cellphone and your number. Third offence you lose your cellphone and your number, plus your vehicle is impounded for seven days.”
According to the Automobile Association, nearly half of young people admit to texting and messaging while driving. Some have had accidents as a result.
Matthew-Wilson adds that it’s a myth that voice-operated smartphones are safer.
“As this video shows, any cellphone is dangerously distracting. But research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed that drivers can be distracted by as long as 27 seconds after dialing, changing music or sending a text using voice commands on voice-operated smartphones.”
“Fines as a form of enforcement work for responsible drivers. However, multiple studies have shown that the threat of fines and disqualification have little or no effect on the highest risk drivers.”
Matthew-Wilson also rejects driver education campaigns as a way of changing behaviour.
“50 years of research across the planet shows overwhelmingly that asking people to drive safely is an expensive waste of time.”
“There are still hundreds of thousands of drivers using cellphones while driving. They accept the risk of a fine in the same way they accept the risk of a parking ticket. These penalties clearly have done little to change behavior.”
“The government needs to stop ignoring this issue and take firm action to save lives.”
