I had a call this week from a listener who’s a regular commuter on the M5 and he tells me that despite the increase in demerit points and fines he still sees many drivers texting while driving. The law currently allows drivers to touch their mobile phones to make or accept calls, put on music or use a GPS whilst driving as long as the phone is in a hands-free holder. However the National Transport Commission wants to toughen the rules warning that using devices for any purpose can be distracting to drivers and puts lives at risk. As usual with many of our road rules there’s confusion between states as to what actually applies. Clearly Australia’s road rules have not kept pace with technology – the National Transport Commission’s Director of Safety and Productivity Mandi Mees said the laws need to be technology neutral meaning distracting behaviour would be targeted rather than specific devices. Texting of any sort whilst driving highly dangerous and distracting. I’m David Berthon

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