Editorial: Cell phone ban will save lives

OPINION: The Automobile Association has got it wrong this time.

AA general manager of motoring affairs Mike Noon says the Government has missed the point by banning cellphone use, yet allowing equally distracting conversations to take place on hands-free kits. He says that the ban on making calls with hand-held mobile phones while driving will not save lives.

Yes, talking on a hands-free device may be distracting but at least the driver will have both hands on the steering wheel while talking. This alone will certainly reduce accidents – and save lives.

Talking with passengers, eating and drinking, smoking and looking for directions also distract drivers and have all played a part in accidents and will continue to do so.

But the proposed ban is a good start and will certainly help to reduce the numbers of accidents on our roads.

The AA is not the only organisation which believes that hands-free phones should be banned too. The NZ Motoring Writers Guild has previously said if the Government is serious about reducing the risk from cell phone use it must ban all in-car use. The guild also suggests a more effective approach long-term would be to train drivers better to make more responsible decisions, and to understand the effects of distractions.

Most laws passed in the interest of safety could go a lot further but surely it is better to make a small difference than none at all. A ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones is already in force in many countries and it makes sense for New Zealand to join the list as cellphone use has been blamed for close to 100 crashes a year.

If that statistic does not improve after the current ban then it would be fair to suggest that Government look at banning all forms of cellphone communication while driving.

A study last year showed that talking on a cellphone while driving was a bigger distraction than talking to a passenger and pointed out that it can increase the chance of crashing by 400 per cent.

The law, which came into effect yesterday, means mobile phones cannot be used at the wheel, even while stopped at a red light, unless the phone is in a fixed cradle, or a hands-free kit or headset is used. Law-breakers face an $80 fine and 20 demerit points.

The threat of a fine and the accumulation of demerit points seems to be motivation enough for many drivers to give up the talking and driving habit. Anecdotal evidence suggests that drivers are taking the new law seriously and are either using hands-free kits or simply not using their phones while driving.

And who knows, that may have already stopped some accidents and saved a life.

- The Marlborough Express

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