Nelson Police are targeting people who use their cell phone while driving, as part of a national campaign.
Nelson Bays Area Commander Inspector Mat Arnold-Kelly said drivers using cell phones was becoming a common sight on the area’s roads and people needed to realise the risk they were taking with their own and other road users’ lives was unacceptable.
“It’s not just cell phones, but any other distractions that take the driver’s attention away from driving that create a risk,” he said.
“The driver’s attention should be on the road and people need to resist the urge to answer the phone. The easiest way to do that is to turn it off when you turn the car on,” he said. He also urged callers to end the call if they became aware that the person they were speaking with was driving.
Ministry of Transport data shows that in 2014, ‘diverted attention’ was identified as a contributing factor in a total 1,053 crashes (12 percent of all crashes), which resulted in 22 people being killed and a further 191 sustaining serious injuries. The total social cost of crashes involving diverted attention was about $297 million, which is approximately 9 percent of the social cost associated with all casualty crashes.
For the past five years it has been illegal to text or use a mobile phone when driving, even when a car is stationary at traffic lights or in a queue. The penalty for offending is an $80 infringement fee and 20 demerit points. If 100 demerit points are accumulated within 2 years the driver will lose their licence for 3 months.
Inspector Arnold-Kelly said the focus of the campaign was to get people to change their behavior and focus their attention on driving.
The campaign runs for the rest of September.
