States urged to impose total ban on mobile phone use in cars

[chevypower]

If they just ban driving all together, they will eliminate ALL driving related deaths and injuries. There's nothing better than a government that knows what's best for us. I want to be protected from myself!

[EDManual]

I agree that there is no difference in using a mobile with your hands or hands free. Its where your concentration is at which is the problem. Holding a phone is no worse than holding a drink or anything else. So either ban the lot, or let everyone use handheld phones again.

[dave289]

Originally Posted by EDManual

I agree that there is no difference in using a mobile with your hands or hands free. Its where your concentration is at which is the problem. Holding a phone is no worse than holding a drink or anything else. So either ban the lot, or let everyone use handheld phones again.

This is not the problem. Its these silly little girls mainly on there p plates, who constantly type crap to one another , and constsntly looking down while they already have no idea how to drive, do this on the freeway at 100+ like im sure they all do and bang, one second ands its a headon, most likely killing people. Not long back I was driving along a stright road ,2 lanes and all of a sudden this car starts to veer into my lane, I look over and this silly ***** is typing crap into her phone. Then when I stopped next to her she wants to be a smartarse, I gave her a major serve, she very quickly wound her window up and moved forward to get away from me.

[vztrt]

Part 2 of the brainwash

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...207-1ak61.html

Bans on drinking and phones would save lives: report Adam Carey
February 8, 2011

DRINK-DRIVING laws could be toughened to reduce the limit from .05 to .02 or even zero for people aged under 26, after a national road safety report found younger drivers contributed to more than a third of alcohol-related road deaths.

The possibility of banning mobile phone use while driving is also raised by the report, which says that all phone use is a dangerous distraction. It is currently legal to use a hands-free device while driving.

''There is evidence to support bans on all mobile phone use while driving,'' it states.

Advertisement: Story continues below However, the state government has indicated it favours current laws allowing use of hands-free mobile phones for all but learner and probationary drivers.

The report reveals that in Victoria, those aged 18 to 25 account for just 13 per cent of licensed drivers, but 36 per cent of all drink-drivers killed in road crashes.

''Reducing the legal BAC [blood alcohol content] limit from 0.05 to zero (or 0.02) for young drivers up to the age of 26 would prevent a significant number of deaths and serious injuries per year across Australia,'' the report states.

''It has been suggested that this would have a similar benefit as raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 years without the same level of impact on the community.''

The draft report, which is being reviewed by all transport ministers, noted the experience of Sweden, which reduced its drink-driving limit from .05 to .02 in the 1990s and had a 10 per cent drop in fatal crashes involving alcohol.

But road safety expert Missy Rudin-Brown warned such a change would not affect the more serious drink-drive offenders. ''Lowering the blood-alcohol limit from .05 to .02 for drivers is not likely to have that much of a significant effect on crash risk, because the people who are .02 or .05 are the same people, they have just one drink,'' said Dr Rudin-Brown, senior research fellow at Monash University Accident Research Centre.

The report also proposes greater use of alcohol locking devices to prevent drink-drivers getting behind the wheel, arguing that with their use, drink driving could be almost eliminated within 10 years.

Victoria Police reacted cautiously to the proposal. A spokeswoman said any decision to toughen drink-driving laws ''would need to be well researched and evidence-based''.

Victoria's police minister, Peter Ryan, said he was against a mobile phone ban.

''These things are always worth considering but I have my misgivings … '' he said on 3AW. ''It would cause a lot of interruption to the way in which people live their lives.''

There was little support for a ban among car makers. Holden safety integration manager, Steve Curtis, said a balance needed to be struck between technological advancement and avoiding driver distraction.

The draft report is up for consultation until February 18 and scheduled to take effect later this year.

With STEVE COLQUHOUN

[iCat]

Originally Posted by Blue Beast II

& perving at the hot traffic controller at road works. ALL distractions are dangerous.

don't ban them please .....

[Struggo]

Originally Posted by dave289

This is not the problem. Its these silly little girls mainly on there p plates, who constantly type crap to one another , and constsntly looking down while they already have no idea how to drive, do this on the freeway at 100+ like im sure they all do and bang, one second ands its a headon, most likely killing people. Not long back I was driving along a stright road ,2 lanes and all of a sudden this car starts to veer into my lane, I look over and this silly ***** is typing crap into her phone. Then when I stopped next to her she wants to be a smartarse, I gave her a major serve, she very quickly wound her window up and moved forward to get away from me.

Spot on Dave, I'm on the road and I often beep the horn at people when they are texting

[Fled74]

OMG like I'm SO good at multitasking LOL

[russellw]

The clue to this particular piece of brain dead bureaucracy is in one telling little paragraph:

Last financial year almost 50,000 drivers were fined more than $11 million for calling, texting, reaching, even touching their phone while driving - more than double the number fined six years ago.

As we are all fully cognisant of the fact that revenue beats life saving (and the latter being a somewhat dubious likelihood anyway) we know that $11 million and growing is going to be a far bigger pull for our revenue hungry governments.

Cheers
Russ

[The Outsider]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Part 2 of the brainwash

oh dear.

so because younger males are most likely to drink and drive over the .05 limit who then crash we should lower the limit?

[04redxr8]

A story on ACA the other night shows its some bald headed muppet from Monash University thats trying to push this crap upon us. The footage showed was people trying to text and talk on the phone while trying to negotiate hazzards at 60kph.

The course looked like it was setup for failure, and in no way peplicated real life road situations. It was a stacked experiment.

If I wonder if it is still ok for me to talk out loud when I answer the voices in my own head.

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Part 2 of the brainwash

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...207-1ak61.html

There was a similar story a while ago http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11269652, and what I said in that thread still stands... if they're going to reduce the BAC limit to 0.02, they may as well reduce it to 0.00 - otherwise, too many people will be caught out after only one drink.