Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Blitz on drivers using phones

By Kristin Edge
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
29 Sep, 2011 03:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nearly 300 Northland drivers have been snapped using their phone - and the new law hasn't gone down well nationally with 40 per cent of those stung not paying their fines.

Officers have issued 281 tickets in the region since the introduction of the new law banning motorists from using cellphones.

Police are planning a nationwide crackdown on people who use their cellphones while driving, after disclosing that their enforcement of the law in Auckland is far tougher than elsewhere.

The blitz is planned for November, to mark the second anniversary of when the Government banned calling or texting from the wheel with hand-held phones. Northland drivers can expect to be under close scrutiny.

Northland road police Acting Senior Sergeant Lance Goulsbro said it was a proven fact that drivers who were using cellphones were not concentrating and statistics showed some crashes could be attributed to the use of cellphones while behind the wheel.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said drivers heeded the new law on its introduction but had become smarter about how they used a phone while driving.

"People drop the phone down on to their lap and use it there," he said.

There was no way to measure how many lives had been saved or crashes prevented with the issuing of the 281 tickets.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's something you can't count, but it does contribute to making the region's roads safer. Texting is definitely the worst with drivers' attention totally focused down."

Nationally, more than 14,000 infringement notices for phoning while driving were issued during the first 21 months of the ban, to the end of July this year.

The total value of the 14,131 notices amounted to $1,130,480 but only 8616 fines were paid, leaving $441,200 outstanding, of which 4771, worth $376,800, had been referred to the Ministry of Justice for collection.

Penalties for breaching the ban include 20 demerit points against driving licences, which are suspended once 100 points are accrued, as well as an $80 fine.

Detected offences were about three times higher in Auckland than throughout the rest of the country.

Police drivers remain exempt from the ban if they use mobile phones in the execution of their duties. That has concerned some motorists, including a man who was pulled over by a policewoman who appeared annoyed he had mouthed his disapproval that she was using a phone while driving.

The incident followed a coroner's finding that a Northland police officer ran over and killed a 16-year-old pedestrian 23 seconds after receiving a text message, although a search of phone records could not confirm he had opened it.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate
|Updated

'Tipping point to extinction': Orca expert fears marina fast-track application

Northern Advocate

'I didn’t have time to think': Well-known local rescues woman from rising flood

Northern Advocate

'Frankly dangerous': Gang member's alleged reckless driving near police lands him in court


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'Tipping point to extinction': Orca expert fears marina fast-track application
Northern Advocate
|Updated

'Tipping point to extinction': Orca expert fears marina fast-track application

Dr Visser warns the marina could be the 'tipping point to extinction' for orca.

16 Jul 05:00 PM
'I didn’t have time to think': Well-known local rescues woman from rising flood
Northern Advocate

'I didn’t have time to think': Well-known local rescues woman from rising flood

16 Jul 06:00 AM
'Frankly dangerous': Gang member's alleged reckless driving near police lands him in court
Northern Advocate

'Frankly dangerous': Gang member's alleged reckless driving near police lands him in court

16 Jul 04:04 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP