I have campaigned for years and presented to many conferences on the dangers of mobile phone use whilst driving. Primarily those drivers who livestream video whilst on the move but also any other phone use. Hand held and hands free.
The recent Barreto case made a mockery of the existing legislation and turned the spotlight on how out of date and unfit for purpose it is. Since 2003 the Government have seen the solution to this as increasing the penalties and, to be fair, overall they have risen substantially. However, the problem remains and isn’t getting any better.
The Government are now taking a different tack and plan to close the loophole exploited by Barreto. This is a welcome change and steers the legislation away from an “interactive communication function” which is difficult to prove. It’s not impossible to prove and is rigorously pursued in fatal collision investigations but is far too easy to drop in the too hard to do tray for simple mobile phone offences or is not considered cost/time effective.
The old school rubber neckers who now extend their bad behaviour and increase risk factors by video recording crash scenes whilst driving past on the opposite carriageway will find no Barreto defence available to them. This new legislation will catch many people out. Yet we know that one of the biggest factors in engendering driver compliance is the act of enforcement. The fear of getting caught. Technology has a role to play here and the automated cameras in use in Australia are picking off thousands of drivers but we also need a proliferation of roads policing officers out on patrol prosecuting, educating and advising drivers.
Whilst this is a step in the right direction people will find ways around this and continue to engage in distracted driving without holding a phone.
Will people accept video calls by voice recognition or in car tech and not touch their phone at all? Yes.
Will people issue commands to their phone and then focus on the screen rather than the road? Yes
Will people find ways to do everything they do now without touching their phones and will manufacturers design new interfaces to make this happen and dress it up as a safety feature? Yes
The bottom line is that hand held and hands free mobile phone use by a driver at anytime is a distraction either visually, aurally, cognitively or all three.
The dangers are known. ✅
The dangers are documented. ✅
The facts and research are available. ✅
This proposed change to legislation is tantalisingly close to hitting the nail on the head but with the finishing line in sight it has tripped over its own laces and fell at the final hurdle.