KEY POINTS:
The Government is ready to consider banning drivers using cellphones if the problem is big enough to warrant it, says Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven wants a ban, although he says it would be difficult to police.
Mr Duynhoven said a month ago that he believed it was time for a ban because of the distraction caused by cellphones, particularly when used for texting.
He renewed his call yesterday after it was reported that police suspected Sharleen Lloyd, 16, of Ohope, eastern Bay of Plenty, had been texting before the car she was driving ran off the road into a parked trailer near Awakeri on Thursday.
She was killed instantly. Her boyfriend Matthew Smit has serious injuries.
After the crash, police said Ms Lloyd might have been distracted by her mobile phone, either sending or receiving a text.
But a report on Whakatane's 1XX news website yesterday quoted Mr Smit's mother, Helen Smit, as saying the couple had just picked up a new chihuahua puppy.
Mrs Smit believed the puppy might have been jumping around in the car and distracted the pair, the report said.
Mrs Smit thought it likely that if Miss Lloyd had been texting, then her son would have seen the car veering off the road and corrected her steering.
Whakatane police last night said inattention was the probable cause of the crash, but the exact circumstances were unknown.
Vodafone New Zealand corporate responsibility manager Raphael Hilbron said the company would not fight a ban on hand-held phones for drivers.
"While mobiles in vehicles have considerable benefits, including the ability to call emergency services, using a mobile while driving distracts drivers and increases the risk of accidents," he said.
He said staff were not allowed to use hand-held phones but could use hands-free when it was safe to. Vodafone did not have a position on whether hands-free phones should also be covered by a ban.
A Telecom spokesman said it shared Vodafone's position and it urged drivers to pull over to answer calls or send texts.
- STAFF REPORTER, NZPA
