John MacDonald: We already know phones are a menace on the roads

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Sometimes I think we do too many trials in this country and we just need to get stuck in more and get on with stuff.
The latest example is the trial Waka Kotahi is running in Auckland, where it’s using safety cameras to find out how much of a problem there is with drivers using mobile phones while they drive. It also wants to get an idea of how many of us aren’t wearing seatbelts.
It’s a six-month trial costing $380,000.
I could have told them how much of a problem it is – especially the phone thing – for free. There are countless drivers on their phones while they drive. Not necessarily talking, but texting.
In fact, I actually think texting is way more of a problem and way more dangerous than people talking on the phone behind the wheel because you have to take your eyes off the road to text, don’t you?
The number of people I see driving, especially through intersections of all places, not looking where they're going but looking down at their phone terrifies me.
And instead of doing this trial in Auckland, Waka Kotahi and the Police just need to get on with the job of stamping this stuff out. People on their phones are a menace on the road.
Waka Kotahi says, because it’s a trial, there won’t be any penalties for drivers it films using their phone or not wearing a seatbelt. But, really, does it not already understand how much of a problem this phone thing is on the roads? Really?
In 2020, there were 24 fatal crashes and 111 serious injuries where distraction was a contributing factor.
And I bet if you’ve been on the road already today, you will have seen someone texting behind the wheel. You may have even done it yourself.
If not, I bet you saw someone yesterday or the day before doing it.
And I’m not going to claim that I’m squeaky clean on this front. A few years ago, I was in a queue of traffic at a roundabout and my phone was sitting on the front passenger seat.
I was scrolling through emails while I waited – not actually holding it, the phone was on the passenger seat – and there was a tap on the window from a traffic cop on a motorbike who gave me an $80 fine on the spot. Stung.
So, if I’ve done it before, and you’ve probably done it before and the person in the car behind you has probably done it before, then we know it’s a problem – so flag the trial Waka Kotahi and just crackdown on it
Don’t worry about a six-month trial in Auckland. Wherever in the country, there is a safety camera, start filming people who are using their phones behind the wheel now and start pinging them for it.
And while you’re at it, stop mucking around with piddly fines. Do what they do in some parts of Australia, if you’re really serious.
In New South Wales, if you’re caught using your phone while driving, you’re fined $350 – or $470 if it’s in a school zone.
Western Australia takes the cake, though. If you’re caught there using a phone while driving, they ping you $1,000. That’s called taking things seriously. And I think we need to follow Western Australia’s example here in New Zealand.
Because, as Simon Douglas from the AA is saying on The Herald, using a phone while driving is a habit that needs to be broken.
He says: “Phones have become such an important part of our daily lives that we find it difficult to function without them.”
He says it’s almost got to the point where keeping in contact with people is more important than the driving itself for some drivers and it’s become so bad that some people see driving as a disruption to their gas-bagging on the phone – instead of it being the other way round.
“It’s a habit we need to break because, when it comes to driving, you need to be 100 percent focused on that task.” And I couldn’t agree with him more.
I could stop at just saying this six-month trial is going to be a waste of time and money because we already know it’s a problem.
But I’m going to...

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