Those cell phones

The recently released statistics on cell phone use caused fatal and serious car crashes surely give pause to thought.

My own realisation of the danger came very early on. A man who in the late 1990s regularly called on us on business had purchased one of the first cell phones. He was very pleased with it and showed us what it could do.

He missed his next scheduled call and then another, when he did finally come he was limping badly. On being asked the problem he explained that on his way from Featherston to Masterton he was following a lady along the Greytown straight. Just as they were coming up to the town’s 50kph sign his cellphone rang, at the same time as the lady braked heavily. Distracted by reaching for the phone he tail crashed her writing off his rather nice new car, badly smashing his knee and causing the lady serious whiplash.

To add to his misery he was charged with dangerous driving and given a heavy fine plus loss of licence for a year. He had been given a dispensation to drive for business purposes. So I realise that it’s best not have your cell phone on while driving.

Clearly despite the law being well publicised many people still do use their phones while driving – last year 28,896 tickets were issued. Maybe the fines should be increased, currently our $80 fine is among the lowest in the world. Britain’s is $379, Australia’s is $450 and Canada’s $575 Mike Beckett