Theres a difference between talking & texting

wrong2, Jul 18, 7:35am
i can drive perfectly fine whist conversing on the phone. its hardly differentto talking to the passengers i carry around

texting however, i dont see how people can defend it
net_oz, Jul 18, 7:39am
You would be the only one that can then.
I suppose you drive better after a joint too.
m16d, Jul 18, 7:49am
You should not tex while your driving.
You could spell some words wrong.
stevo2, Jul 18, 7:54am
With a phone in one hand and a beer in the other, how do you light your ciggy!
aragorn2003, Jul 18, 8:22am
On a side note , Anyone else laugh at the douches who hold the bum end of the phone up to their mouths and talk in to it!
patiki1, Jul 18, 9:31am
Im the same,I can talk and drive but im crap at texting and driving.
bigfatmat1, Jul 18, 9:49am
auto correct.
xacoon, Jul 18, 9:51am
scantily clad females on the footpath are more of a distraction than anything else, better not ban them.
outbidyou2, Jul 18, 10:24am
you know that one day you will be arrested for smoking a cigarette, you may laugh.
kokako14, Jul 18, 11:13am
Stevo.you now the rules, you should never drink and drive. You might hit a bump and spill it
smac, Jul 18, 9:00pm
Maybe you can.but plenty can't. Everytime I come up behind somebody weaving between the centre and side line using the bumps as an indication they've gone to far, yoyo'ing between 85 and 95 you can almost guarantee they're gassing on the phone. When you pass.sure enough.

Talking on the phone IS different than talking to somebody sitting next to you, it takes far more concentration. Study after study has shown it, and anyone who spends significant time on the phone knows it.

I'm kinda neutral on whether it should have been banned or not, but I do think people should stick to facts when debating it.
elect70, Jul 19, 1:58am
Before mobile phonesmy calls were from operator onRT setwhile drriving to next batchofjobs & writing it down onpad on my knee , . But nanas say cant use a cell phone .
freedomaira320, Jul 19, 2:19am
This is very true. It has been well researched. The worst are actually the people who think they are perfectly fine at talking on the phone and driving at the same time. They simply don't realise how their concentration has been impaired (until the day they have an accident). It's a good law.
nightboss, Jul 19, 2:28am
Texting while driving is as dangerous as forgetting to blow on the pie!
splinter67, Jul 19, 2:31am
And a lot more expensive if you get caught
chebry, Jul 19, 4:35am
Actually most drivers I see cant drive worth shit anyway so a phone is no real hinderance.
andrea_w, Jul 19, 4:47am
Children in the back seat cause accidents.
Accidents in the back seat cause children.

Phones aren't the cause of accidents, back seats are!
msigg, Jul 19, 5:54am
It is clearly taking away some of your attention that you are supposed to be applying to the road.
stevo2, Jul 19, 7:27am
So this means that if you talk legally on your phone via handsfree, then you are concentrating on your driving but if you are holding it in your hand you are not.
What a load of bollocks
msigg, Jul 19, 10:07am
No stevo2 you are not putting 100% of your concentration into your driving. Think about it.Hands free or not.
n1smo_gtir, Jul 19, 10:43am
any plonker crashes into me while yakking or texting, i'll ram their phone so far up their rear end, they'll need A&E to remove it.
smac, Jul 19, 8:15pm
Yeah that's where it all falls apart - the studies show that when you are talking on a phone, your attention to driving goes out the window. That bit is fact. This is for completely different reasons than texting (which is about taking your eyes off the road).

So it stands to reason that hand held or hands free shouldn't matter (maybe a little bit). However some politician somewhere was intent on banning SOMEthing, and nobody would have stomached a complete ban, so they went for a compromise (which completely defeated what they were trying to achieve).
The fact that they banned hand held phones, but you can still use an RT or fiddle with your phone if it's being used as a GPS just shows it's a sham.
Stoopid, but that's politics.I guess we now have a smaller group of numpties not paying attention, so it did achieve SOMEthing.
likit, Jul 20, 4:59am
No he wouldn't,as he said its the same as talking to your passengers.If cellphone use is banned then radios/stereos/gps/ashtrays/ai-
rcon & passengers should be banned as they all make you take your eyes off the road.
wrong2, Jul 20, 5:19am
talking on the phone whilst driving isnt illegal in NZ