Cellphones not the only distraction in cars

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Fri, 30 Oct 2009 7:37p.m.

There is just one more day to go until the ban on handheld cellphone use while driving comes into effect.

The new law means it will be illegal to talk on a cellphone in a car unless it is in a secure cradle, or you are using some kind of hands-free kit. Texting is a no-no in all circumstances.

But in a world full of sensory overload, is a ban on cellphones alone, enough to make much of a difference?

Eric Hertz is the head of new mobile phone company 2Degrees and when it comes to cellphones and cars he thought he had a safe system worked out.

“It’s kind of routine for me to get in the car and put in the headset and so that's what i do. I put on the seatbelt put on my headset and start out,” he says.

He developed that routine while living in America where several states already ban handheld phones while driving. But soon after arriving here it let him down.

“I was actually using Google Maps on a phone and came up to an intersection. There were a couple of cars in front, one car went through, the second car started out and I started out and I glance down at the Google Maps device and the car in front of me stopped and so I went into the back of him,” he says.

Legally Eric Hertz had not done anything wrong.

Using a phone's navigation function is, and will continue to be legal, as long as it is securely attached to the dash-board.

But the accident left the car he drove into a write-off and was a major wake-up call for the already cautious Hertz.

“I think there are all kinds of distractions in cars; GPS is a distraction, reaching into the glove box, eating a sandwich or drinking a cup of coffee in the car and you drop it. Those are things you really have to pay attention to,” he says.

And the statistics show he is right.

Last year cellphones were directly linked to just one fatal accident.

Drivers being dazzled caused five people to die.

Cigarettes, radios and glove boxes caused six fatalities.

And a driver's emotional state can also be fatal. Seven people died because a driver was upset.

So should glove boxes, radios and nervous breakdowns be banned along with cellphones?

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Comments

08 Nov 2009 08:50p.m.

eltrab wrote:

I guess this helps but there are so many other distractions what is the point. It would be better to put the time and effort in to better driver training than to pass new laws. I think distractions that are just as bad if not worse that I regularly see drivers doing include, kids, eating, MP3 players, stereos. Its not like we can ban these. Kids must be the biggest distraction, e.g. if your baby starts crying your natural reaction is to take your eyes off the road and look

04 Nov 2009 07:07p.m.

Zeitguist wrote:

This cell phone ban while driving, another way to line the pockets of greenies with nothing better to moan about!. Cell phone designers should just make the phone unable to text when the phone is going faster than 6km/hr using GPS technology!, you can only talk on it.

Texting is the distracting part in all of this, Why not just ban CD Players in cars cause thats just as distracting!, not to mention the police cars with thier red and blue lights flashing causes more distraction to rubbernecks having a gawk at whats going on!

I dont want to see police talking on thier cb radios either!

Oh thats right, its NZ, police get away with everything here!

Thats why there are so many pom cops around!

Zeitguist.

02 Nov 2009 07:32p.m.

Grant wrote:

The cell ph issue has now open the flood gates to claims and counter claims, anything in your car that requires one to a. take their eyes off the road and b. hand off the wheel will have an impact, we are all guilty of it from grabbing the TicTacs on the seat to changing the radio station. Agree fully with Eric's comments, where will it end and how do we change the unchangable.

02 Nov 2009 02:38p.m.

ragnarwill wrote:

include alternative new temperature indicate roughly

02 Nov 2009 11:45a.m.

Dr Rog wrote:

If it is now illegal, does that mean if it can be 'implied' by an insurance company that a driver was using a cell phone at or just prior to a crash, they can dismiss a claim? In other words, can using a hand-held phone while driving void one's insurance?

Does this then mean that if I'm hit by a driver in such circumstances, any insurance pay-out may be deferred for years, while they try to get money from the little sod??