Father - my son should still be alive

Trevor Richardson has no doubt that his son Dannial would still be alive if the teenager had not reached out to grab a cellphone from a friend while driving.

"The boy that was in the back was talking on the cellphone and Dannial asked him to pass it to him. As he leaned over to get it he crossed the median strip and went head-on with an oncoming vehicle."

The 19-year-old died at the scene from multiple injuries, including brain damage. Mr Richardson said his son only had 5km of his journey left. He would have made it if it wasn't for the cellphone.

The Waitara man now supports calls for the use of cellphones to be banned while people are driving.

Some organisations have opposed the ban, saying people will have more accidents trying to get to the side of the road to answer a call and that they won't be able to report dangerous drivers in front of them.

Mr Richardson said dangerous drivers could be reported from the sides of the roads. Incoming calls could be left on voice message and returned at a later date.

"The best way to avoid accidents is to turn your cellphone off while in the vehicle," said Mr Richardson.

Ministry of Transport statistics show that 13 of the 17 people who have died in cellphone related accidents have been drivers or people in the car with the cellphone user.

The other four were cyclists, pedestrians or oncoming motorists who had nothing to do with the cellphone. All crashes happened on the open road.

Automobile Association public affairs director George Fairbairn said that was no surprise because a loss of concentration at 80km/h was more deadly than at 40km.

On urban roads, people were more likely to regain control - or suffer less serious injuries - if they steered slightly over the median strip than on the open road.