Mobile phone driving crackdown: Whanganui police to use unmarked cars, plain-clothes cops

Police say the main distraction for drivers is using a mobile phone to call or text or even take photographs. Photo / File

Whanganui police will use unmarked cars and plain-clothes police staff in a crackdown this month on drivers using mobile phones.

Sergeant Colin Wright said drivers caught could expect an infringement notice of $80 and 20 demerit points. If a driver accrued more than 100 demerit points in two years they would have their driver's licence suspended for three months.

Figures from NZTA and NZ Police show that in 2018 crashes because of distracted driving resulted in 12 deaths and 155 injuries.

Sergeant Colin Wright. Photo / File

Wright said the main distraction while driving was using a mobile phone to call, text or take photographs.

Other distractions included talking to passengers, reaching for objects in the car, sat nav systems, eating and drinking while driving, applying make-up, combing hair or shaving, and fiddling with radios.

Wright said it was a misconception mobiles could be used while the vehicle was stationary at traffic lights or other traffic hold-ups.

Drivers still needed to be alert and aware of other traffic and pedestrians around them even when stationary.

"Things can change in a split second and if drivers aren't paying attention they may not be able to react. This is still using a mobile phone while driving and can still incur an infringement notice."

Source / Whanganui Police

Wright said passengers had a role to play in the vehicle. They could answer calls on behalf of the driver and challenge the driver if they were unwise enough to use a phone while driving.

"Nobody wants to share the road with a distracted driver."

Source / Whanganui Police

The police are focusing on distractions while driving as part of the Operation Five Road Policing strategy to reduce road deaths by 5 per cent every year.

So far this year 232 people have died on New Zealand roads.