KEY POINTS:
The Government is running out of excuses now the two major telecommunications companies have called for a ban on texting and talking on a cellphone while driving, the Green Party said yesterday.
Vodafone and Telecom want a ban, adding to calls for legislative change after a Christchurch man killed an elderly couple while texting as he was driving.
The Green Party has been calling for a ban and MP Sue Kedgley yesterday said the Government could not continue to be inactive now that Vodafone and Telecom had called for a law change.
"Is the Government oblivious to the mounting and often tragic evidence that using a cellphone while driving reduces the driver's inattention and significantly increases the risk of crashes?" the Green MP asked.
A 2002 British study found that drivers' reaction times were significantly slower when using a mobile phone and that drivers engaged in a mobile phone conversation were four times as likely to crash than other drivers, she said.
Robert Stonestreet, 20, was sentenced in Christchurch District Court this week on two charges of drink-driving causing death.
However, Judge John Bisphan said the primary cause of the crash was texting while driving. Judge Bisphan suggested lawmakers consider making cellphone use while driving illegal. Vodafone head of corporate responsibility Raphael Hilbron said the company wanted a ban because there had not been a change in driver behaviour, despite the message that it was dangerous to text or talk on a hand-held cellphone while driving.
The Government has so far rejected an outright ban.
- NZPA
