We’ve all seen distracted drivers with their mobile phones stuck to their ears and other drivers looking down to play with their mobile devices as if they had eyes on the top of their heads; both swerve and sway and some tragically cause accidents. New Zealand’s Transport Safety Commission has proposed an amendment to ban the use of mobile devices while driving to deal with the problem.
In New Zealand, mobile phones and other mobile devices were identified as contributing to 411 crashes causing injury and 26 that caused death between 2002 and 2007. In the last six years the number of crashes caused by mobile devices has doubled.
In Australia, the ban is country wide and an offender faces a fine that varies between states. In Bahrain, offenders face fines as well as the possibility of prison time. The third offence in Ireland will put an offender in jail for up to 3 months.
The proposed mobile phone ban will be country wide in New Zealand and will allow for the use of a hands-free device. No amendment has been proposed banning drivers from picking their noses though revenues from fees for breaking such a law could replace New Zealand’s income tax.
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