Surgeons call for stricter punishments for drivers using mobile phones

Trauma surgeons, sick of seeing the awful consequences of distracted driving, are calling for stricter punishments for motorists caught using mobile phones.

While touching a phone when driving incurs a $1000 fine in NSW and Queensland, the equivalent crime in Victoria sets motorists back $496.

Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ National Trauma Committee Dr John Crozier tells 3AW’s Tom Elliott motorists who use their phones when driving are four times as likely to be involved in a crash.

“I think the important thing is to know the behaviour is illegal, and it’s dangerous.”

Within a six-month trial of mobile phone detection cameras, over 100 000 drivers in two NSW locations were spotted using phones.

Dr Crozier says the heavy loss of demerit points, leading to a loss of license, is an appropriate punishment for such risky behaviour.

“Without enforcement, legislation is impotent.”

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