Cellphone ban won't apply to squad cars

Photo / Martin Sykes

Police will be exempt from the ban on using cellphones while driving, but fire and ambulance officers will not.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said the clause would bring "howls of outrage", but officers would be told to pull over for calls.

"Police have had a policy for some years that if your phone goes, you are to pull over," he said. "Obviously we will be continuing to advise members that they shouldn't be driving with cellphones."

He said the Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule 2009 - due to come in on November 1 - was the type of regulation already used by most police agencies around the world.

A driver caught talking or texting at the wheel will face a fine of $80 and receive 20 demerit points.

Under the new rule "[an] enforcement officer may, while driving a vehicle, use a mobile phone to make, receive, or terminate a telephone call if the officer is making, receiving, or terminating the call in the execution of the officer's duty".

Fire and ambulance staff do not fall into the "enforcement officer" category.

But Fire Service spokesman Scott Sargentina said the officer in charge - who rode in the passenger seat - always operated the cellphone anyway.

Charlie Bougher, team leader for the northern ambulance communications centre, said St John vehicles were always "double-crewed" and the passenger used the mobile phone. In outlying stations - where there was one paramedic per vehicle - hands-free cellphones were fitted, he said.

The new cellphone legislation also allows any driver to make a "genuine emergency call" where it is impractical to pull over.

Mr O'Connor said police, like fire and ambulance, dispatched two officers per patrol car whenever possible, and the person in the passenger seat made the calls.

The cellphone ban does not include hands-free phones.

National road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose echoed Mr O'Connor's sentiments about the policy.

"Police already have a policy in place which discourages the use of hand-held cellphones except in emergency situations for the obvious safety reasons," she said.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said he expected police to use the exemption responsibly, or it would be retracted.

"It's in their interests [to abide by it]. They can enforce the law only if people accept that it is there to be enforced.

"They have other exemptions, such as parking on the wrong side of the road, and they are expected to use that responsibly."

The Automobile Association has urged the police to use the exemption wisely.

"That's what it's likely to be in practice or I would hope they would get their partner to make the call," said Mike Noon, general manager for motoring affairs.

Professor Avi Ceder, of the Auckland University transportation group, said hand-held and hands-free cellphones were equally dangerous while driving.

"Driving is a visual task and in order for your brain to interpret stimuli, it requires a degree of paying attention to the dynamically changing surroundings."

Waikato University Associate Professor Sam Charlton - who is studying the psychology of driver attention, perception and performance - said the danger of driving and talking depended on the conversation.

"If it is around the task at hand - which is finding the information or if they are in pursuit - the conversation can actually be helpful."

Professor Charlton said airports had problems with air controllers being distracted when two-way radios were first introduced. International guidelines now ensured controllers were trained to communicate in a structured, formatted, non-distracting way.

He said the police department should be giving staff similar training.

"We wouldn't be shooting blind because it's proven in the aviation field."

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the Dog & Lemon Guide for car-buyers, said the police exemption was acceptable for emergency situations only.

"But if it's a habit, I do have a problem with it because police should be setting an example.

"I would be concerned if it became an everyday occurrence."