Texters ignore safety message

Research suggests more than half of Kiwis text while they drive. Photo / Herald on Sunday

More than half of Kiwis text while they drive, according to new research. A survey of almost 1000 people by Auckland University masters student Charlene Hallett reveals two-thirds read and 52 per cent send at least one message a week while driving.

Many admitted reading and sending at least 11 messages a week - 15 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

Hallett found no major difference between the sexes when it came to texting and driving but concluded younger people did it more often. And 89 per cent of respondents admitted that texting impaired their driving performance.

Hallett's research also found cellphone use was a factor in many crashes and near-misses.

Nine people admitted having between one and three accidents in the past six months as a result of cellphone use. Almost 150 said they had had between one and three near misses.

Hallett found men who drove for their jobs spent 21 minutes on their cellphones each week, almost twice the average figure for women.

Overall, more than 60 per cent of those surveyed spent at least one minute a week talking on cellphones while driving and 13 per cent more than 16 minutes.

According to the Transport Ministry, one person died and 116 were injured last year in crashes in which a driver's attention was diverted by a cellphone or other communication device. In 2007, six Kiwis died and 96 were injured in similar circumstances.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce is pushing for a ban on drivers using handheld cellphones and is waiting for a report on the results of public consultation.

That consultation followed a proposal by the previous Labour-led government to fine drivers $50 and impose 25 demerit points for using handheld phones.

AA spokesman Simon Lambourne said the organisation backed the ban and warned drivers that hands-free calls were also distracting.

He said the proposed $50 fine is fair but the 25 demerit points penalty is "probably too high" and the AA has asked for it to be reduced.

"A rule change will save lives and is in the interests of greater road safety, so it should be done as soon as possible. That said, the AA would like to see a public education campaign before any ban is introduced - rather than motorists just getting fined and collecting demerits."

Previous studies have concluded cellphone use while driving increases the risk of crashing by up to nine times.

Dr Samuel Charlton, leader of a two-year Waikato University study released last year, wants Joyce to ban hands-free kits too.

His research found the reaction time of someone driving and talking on a mobile almost doubled, from 2.5 seconds to 4 seconds.

"When you're talking on a cellphone you're not paying attention to how bad you're driving has become. The only time is when someone realises they've bumped into something."

Although Charlton wants a total ban, he would be happy if motorists turned off communication devices. "If you make the decision to turn your cellphone off when you get in the car then you're not tempted to pick up text messages or calls."

Russell Keating has more reason than most to be shocked by the results of Charlene Hallett's research.

His brother and sister-in-law, Samuel and Beverly Keating, died after a texting driver ploughed into their car as they drove home from celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary in September 2007.

Dairy worker Robert Stonestreet, then 20, admitted two charges of drink driving at Christchurch District Court in March last year.

During the hearing the court heard his ute ploughed into the Ashburton retirees' car after he became distracted while texting and failed to stop at an intersection.

Told of Hallett's study, Russell Keating said he feared warnings about texting and driving may never sink in.

"It is disheartening. A lot of people won't change their habits until something happens to them."

Stonestreet was sentenced to nine months' home detention and 200 hours' community service, disqualified from driving for 2 years and ordered to pay $10,000 reparation and undergo alcohol counselling.

Russell says the deaths of Samuel, 74, and Beverly, 70, created a "very big gap".

"The boy is very remorseful but that's still no excuse. They had not been drinking.

"They'd gone to a friend's place and had a meal."