Motorists face curbs on phones

By WAYNE THOMPSON

A ban on motorists using hand-held cellphones when driving could be law by the end of the year.

The Government has assigned Associate Transport Minister Harry Duynhoven to look at grounds for a ban following crash reports and research.

He will be briefed tomorrow by officials of the Land Transport Safety Authority on its proposal to make it illegal for drivers to use hand-held phones but not hands-free kits.

A cyclist died in Christchurch on Thursday after being hit by a car driven by a 16-year-old youth.

Police say the driver was possibly texting or talking on his cellphone, and has been charged.

Mr Duynhoven said the Christchurch cyclist case and his own observations of drivers chatting and texting behind the wheel led him to believe it would be safer if people did not drive with a cellphone in one hand.

He said he favoured hands-free kits being left out of any change to the traffic rules.

He found that his hands-free kit allowed him to answer his cellphone and talk without interfering with his driving.

Traffic authorities in some other countries have banned all cellphone use, but Mr Duynhoven said motorists could also be distracted by lighting a cigarette or eating a sandwich.


The Automobile Association public affairs director, George Fairbairn, said the association would support making holding a cellphone an offence. It wanted hands-free cellphone use to be allowed.

The association had originally thought a motorist education programme was the best way to get motorists to keep both hands on the wheel.

But with texting becoming more common the problem would be addressed if hand-held operation was banned.

Mr Fairbairn said drivers were permitted to use hands-free kits in Britain, "where it is said to be satisfactory".

He said the safety authority had not taken a firm stand on a draft proposal for a ban 18 months ago.

"We are saying to the Government, 'Let's get on with it because the public are saying it's not safe'."

The authority's figures show cellphones were recorded as a factor in 45 injury crashes last year and in 32 crashes the previous year.

Authority spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the proposal to ban hand-held cellphone use had been through two rounds of public consultation as part of a change to road user rules.

Submissions were more in support than against.

The authority had always said hands-free kit use could distract motorists as well, Mr Knackstedt said. But it was being realistic about what would be acceptable to the public.

He said if Transport Minister Pete Hodgson, Mr Duynhoven and the Cabinet approved the plan, the rule change could be brought in about October or November.


DRIVING DISTRACTIONS

* A 16-year-old driver charged over the death of a cyclist last Thursday was possibly texting or talking on his cellphone when the accident happened, police say.

* Cellphones were recorded as a factor in 45 injury crashes last year and in 32 crashes in 2002.

* The Land Transport Safety Authority feels hands-free-kit phones still distract motorists.