507 cellphone crashes out of 3.8 million vehicles

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#246986 15-Aug-2009 16:58

Ok then. In the US and Oz there have been cases that have gone to court where by the tax collector have ticketed people for touching there bluetooth headset or HF device while driving say Undue care and attention. . The one In Adelaide went rite to the supreme court . Do you guys want the jackboots here to do the same as it sounds that what your talking yourselves into..

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Old3eyes

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#246996 15-Aug-2009 17:45

old3eyes: Ok then. In the US and Oz there have been cases that have gone to court where by the tax collector have ticketed people for touching there bluetooth headset or HF device while driving say Undue care and attention. . The one In Adelaide went rite to the supreme court . Do you guys want the jackboots here to do the same as it sounds that what your talking yourselves into..

You're obviously severely uninformed - why don't you take time to read what I've posted a link to before making such contentious remarks?

batmann

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#247014 15-Aug-2009 18:45

Dratsab:
Four_seven: ...but as has been said, why not just use the careless driving charge?

Because, as marmel has already pointed out, it's a very high level charge for what will, most often, be a minor offence. If the driving is bad enough to warrant careless, dangerous or reckless then usage of a cellphone could be cited as a factor. Most of the time though, receiving a ticket and being allowed to carry on your merry way will be sufficient - especially with demerit points attached.

Four_seven: Time to close down the *555 call center, cause no one will be able to dial it now!

Actually, calling *555 is one of the exemptions. Go here and click on the Draft Rules link - pages 4, 10 and 11 are what you want to read.

Balchy's thread is related.

batmann: it will be interesting to see what 'driving' actually is. if i stop at the traffic lights and my vehicle is not moving, is that 'driving'?

Yes it is. As soon as you insert a key into the ignition, you are driving. And no you can't manually use your phone at this particular juncture. Refer to section 7.3A(2)(e) in the Draft Rules link.

davide: Does speakerphone mode on a handset count as a "handsfree" or do you have to have something like a bluetooth/ wired handsfree system?

Refer to my post in Balchy's thread.

it's funny isn't it, cellphones while driving are being banned because of the distractions they cause, but you can still use a cellphone whilst driving to call 111. i would think a person would be more distracted whilst calling 111 than their friend. by allowing 111 calls while driving it defeats the whole purpose of banning cellphones because of the distraction. maybe some of these accidents were cause by people calling 111 whilst driving.

and allowing the use of 2 way radios. so if all cellphone users got 2 way radios installed in their vehicles they can just use it to talk to their friends again and be distracted. i bet sales of 2 way radios will increase.

wmoore

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#247077 15-Aug-2009 22:39

batmann:
Dratsab:
Four_seven: ...but as has been said, why not just use the careless driving charge?

Because, as marmel has already pointed out, it's a very high level charge for what will, most often, be a minor offence. If the driving is bad enough to warrant careless, dangerous or reckless then usage of a cellphone could be cited as a factor. Most of the time though, receiving a ticket and being allowed to carry on your merry way will be sufficient - especially with demerit points attached.

Four_seven: Time to close down the *555 call center, cause no one will be able to dial it now!

Actually, calling *555 is one of the exemptions. Go here and click on the Draft Rules link - pages 4, 10 and 11 are what you want to read.

Balchy's thread is related.

batmann: it will be interesting to see what 'driving' actually is. if i stop at the traffic lights and my vehicle is not moving, is that 'driving'?

Yes it is. As soon as you insert a key into the ignition, you are driving. And no you can't manually use your phone at this particular juncture. Refer to section 7.3A(2)(e) in the Draft Rules link.

davide: Does speakerphone mode on a handset count as a "handsfree" or do you have to have something like a bluetooth/ wired handsfree system?

Refer to my post in Balchy's thread.

it's funny isn't it, cellphones while driving are being banned because of the distractions they cause, but you can still use a cellphone whilst driving to call 111. i would think a person would be more distracted whilst calling 111 than their friend. by allowing 111 calls while driving it defeats the whole purpose of banning cellphones because of the distraction. maybe some of these accidents were cause by people calling 111 whilst driving.

and allowing the use of 2 way radios. so if all cellphone users got 2 way radios installed in their vehicles they can just use it to talk to their friends again and be distracted. i bet sales of 2 way radios will increase.

Where does it say that you can still call 111 while driving, after the ban ? If you haven't got a hands free kit, then you should pull over.

By the way batmann

What age group do you fit into, what type of car do you drive, and finally do you wear a hat while driving?

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#247081 15-Aug-2009 22:58

I heard that there was a study done in the UK and from the trial results - they found that txting was a lot safer than talking on the phone because "You can choose more appropriate moments to look down at your phone to txt than talking" (For example txting only at traffic lights or slow traffic). And yes I heard that talking and driving is equal or even worse than drink driving too.

batmann

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#247335 16-Aug-2009 20:17

wmoore:
batmann:
Dratsab:
Four_seven: ...but as has been said, why not just use the careless driving charge?

Because, as marmel has already pointed out, it's a very high level charge for what will, most often, be a minor offence. If the driving is bad enough to warrant careless, dangerous or reckless then usage of a cellphone could be cited as a factor. Most of the time though, receiving a ticket and being allowed to carry on your merry way will be sufficient - especially with demerit points attached.

Four_seven: Time to close down the *555 call center, cause no one will be able to dial it now!

Actually, calling *555 is one of the exemptions. Go here and click on the Draft Rules link - pages 4, 10 and 11 are what you want to read.

Balchy's thread is related.

batmann: it will be interesting to see what 'driving' actually is. if i stop at the traffic lights and my vehicle is not moving, is that 'driving'?

Yes it is. As soon as you insert a key into the ignition, you are driving. And no you can't manually use your phone at this particular juncture. Refer to section 7.3A(2)(e) in the Draft Rules link.

davide: Does speakerphone mode on a handset count as a "handsfree" or do you have to have something like a bluetooth/ wired handsfree system?

Refer to my post in Balchy's thread.

it's funny isn't it, cellphones while driving are being banned because of the distractions they cause, but you can still use a cellphone whilst driving to call 111. i would think a person would be more distracted whilst calling 111 than their friend. by allowing 111 calls while driving it defeats the whole purpose of banning cellphones because of the distraction. maybe some of these accidents were cause by people calling 111 whilst driving.

and allowing the use of 2 way radios. so if all cellphone users got 2 way radios installed in their vehicles they can just use it to talk to their friends again and be distracted. i bet sales of 2 way radios will increase.

Where does it say that you can still call 111 while driving, after the ban ? If you haven't got a hands free kit, then you should pull over.

By the way batmann

What age group do you fit into, what type of car do you drive, and finally do you wear a hat while driving?

111 or *555 calls using handheld cellphones whilst driving is allowed:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2675512/Exemptions-to-driver-cellphone-ban

What happens if people get distracted while doing this?

It says law enforcement officers get an exemption. Not sure what for but there have been cases of police cars causing accidents so this law is not about driver distraction at all because if it was all people including police should not be able to use handheld cellphones whilst driving even in an emergency.

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#247342 16-Aug-2009 20:33

Yes I think it's a good move to ban the use of cell phones while driving.

I have driven behind too many motorists texting (usually young females) and talking on their cell phones and you can tell they are not giving the road their full attention.

As for motorists using common sense - that's the last thing that's used on the roads - if at all

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#247345 16-Aug-2009 20:40

batmann:

111 or *555 calls using handheld cellphones whilst driving is allowed:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2675512/Exemptions-to-driver-cellphone-ban

What happens if people get distracted while doing this?

Just how often have you called 111 while driving? I would think it hardly a common occurrence unlike people just making general calls.

*555 calls I have been driving when made were always made by the passenger not by the driver.

I take your point but the reality is that very few calls are made to either of those numbers by drivers.

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NonprayingMantis

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#247521 17-Aug-2009 10:47

I don?t really see the need for the 111 or *555 exception.

I can?t think of any realistic situation where you might need to call those numbers whilst driving where you couldn?t just pull over to make the call (barring Jack Bauer style car chases).

Balchy

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#247525 17-Aug-2009 10:51

Every time i've called *555 they have asked me to follow the car as far as possible without endangering myself

For billions of years since the outset of time, every single one of your ancestors survived, every single person on your Mum and Dads side, successfully looked after and passed onto you life. What are the chances of that like?

batmann

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#247722 17-Aug-2009 15:23

NonprayingMantis: I don?t really see the need for the 111 or *555 exception.

I can?t think of any realistic situation where you might need to call those numbers whilst driving where you couldn?t just pull over to make the call (barring Jack Bauer style car chases).

someone said here that when your car is stationary and it's on the road it is still defined as driving. so if you pull over to the side of the road to call a friend, would you have to turn your engine off and take the key out of the ignition to legally call your friend?

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#247733 17-Aug-2009 15:37

batmann:
someone said here that when your car is stationary and it's on the road it is still defined as driving. so if you pull over to the side of the road to call a friend, would you have to turn your engine off and take the key out of the ignition to legally call your friend?

Sorry, btu that's right

If someone is stupid enough to pull over and stay on the road!!!! instead of pulling over into a carpark etc or off the road completely(shoulder of the motorway doesn't count, it's a stupid stupid place to stop unless broken down). Then you will be done for it.

So you are saying, you stop in the emergency shoulder, pull your keys out and expect not to be fined. Just so you can ring your mate?

Cellphone driving should be banned for good. Even handsfree kits show there is a massive distraction to the driver. There is no one important enough to risk others lives, just to take a phone call to their mate telling them where the next "drag" is, or asking them to catch a movie. Or in geekzone style, telling them about Windows 7 release date

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

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#247738 17-Aug-2009 15:44

And also that's an extremely flawed survey. 3.8 million vehicles, but how many are about to "de-register", or are licence exempt due to repairs etc. I've had 2 vehicles over 4 years that were licence exempt.

There are only 4.2 million estimated people in teh country, there won't be 3.8 million vehicles on the road all the time or at any time. Unless we let infants, children and the people with no licence drive. Or put each car on a tow dolly, so we drive two at a time for the licenced people.

The census shows that 840,000 are still children under the age of 14...
The percentage of the population remainig with drivers licences are less than 2/3s
So it's realistically, 507 recorded(note that word, because I know accidents are mostly not reported) out of about 1.6 million people driving, which in my books is too much.

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

8d52797c436

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#247739 17-Aug-2009 15:46

batmann:

someone said here that when your car is stationary and it's on the road it is still defined as driving. so if you pull over to the side of the road to call a friend, would you have to turn your engine off and take the key out of the ignition to legally call your friend?

That is correct. I had a friend who was done DUI once for sitting in a car, in a carpark on the side of the road, with the keys in the ignition listening to music with a couple of mates. The engine was not on, the key was just turned to the acc position, but it was legally defined as driving. Granted it's not the same as sitting talking to a mate with the keys in the ignition, but you cant legally define 'driving' as two seperate things for different circumstances. You may find though that being pulled over with the car out of gear and the handbrake on that as long as you are legally pulled over (i.e. not on the side of the motorway) then the cop will probably let you off... if he's having a good day.

Asmodeus

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#247770 17-Aug-2009 16:24

I approve of the ban

$80 is a joke though. Should at least be $150

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