Article summary of cellphone message not getting through

East and Bays courier

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Cellphone message not getting through

By Jenny Ling

This article is about thousands of Aucklanders who can't resist picking up their phones or replying to text messages while driving. These people are being punished with a fine of $80 and 20 demerit points.

"There are still far too many people using cellphones for texting and conversations" AA spokesman Mike Noon says. Mr Noon says people often ignore the law because of peer preasure to answer their phones. "The problem they have is if they don't answer their mates get angry at them".

Some say the law doesn't go far enough. Auckland University professor of psychology Mr Lambert was one of several NZ academics and scientists who made a submission to the government urging a ban on hands-free devices. The group pointed to more than 30 scientific studies which found drivers are using hands-free and hands-held phones. "There's no real difference between using hands-held and hands-free phones because one of those things people need to know to that the hands-free option is not a safe option,it's the same as drunk driving" Mr Lambert sayss.

According to ministry of transport figures, mobile phones were a big problem in 89serious crashes in Auckland in the three years before the ban. In these crashed four people died and eight people were injured. In the three years after the ban there were  67 crashes and a gain resulte in four deaths and eight injuries. Since the ban the fines issued by police has climbed in Auckland police districts which includes Auckland city, Counties Manukau and Waitemata. Police issued 2,229 tickets from November 2009 to June 2010. That jumped to 4,842 in July 2010 to June 2011 financial years while 5,237 people got fines.

♡I feel so sad and angry when I hear that people die from crashes or they die in a crash when they're using a phone.♡