All of which is why he will escape any prosecution or penalty as there are different rules that apply to the rulers.

If you’ve seen others, continue the list ….pq

6. writing down things you suddenly remember to your list of things to do
7. looking at girls with legs on
8. reaching over to passenger seat for things you need to find
9. crashing through road stop cone barriers in Christchurch
10. listening to some radio jock on car radio and screaming at him

Is driving carelessly against the law? Or only if you crash?

Yes, it is. Law has correlatives, where a right has a corresponding duty. The correlative duty of the common law right to use a public road is the duty of care for other road users. The legislation (for persons) relates to careless use of a motor vehicle.

If you’ve seen others, continue the list ….

The law already deals with the consequence of distractions that lead to poor driving. That cellphones are singled out was, is, and always be absurd.

Given that the Police claim this is so very very dangerous, how are they allowed to yap away on their communiction devices while driving at high speed ?

The cellphone law is a terrible bit of legistlation and only appeals to power trippers in positions of authority.

Note to the last intelligent person to leave NZ: don’t turn out the lights. The rest of NZ won’t figure out how to turn it back on again without the necessary “enabling legislation”.

Serious question.

If careless driving is against the law, a policy stating that cellphone use is ipso facto careless driving.

Also, using a camera or a cellphone to take photos while driving would be the same.

/not sure if wrong Latin phrase used.

We have a parliament of cretins who ignore their electorate and are controlled by a pack of self serving shiny arsed bureaucrats sitting in Wellington offices.

And I’ve no reason to believe it’s use is illegal.

BUT! It demands constant and repeated glances/attention, and, in that regard, is not so different – in terms of driver-distraction-from-the road-and-traffic – from a cell-phone.

Just raising the point/fuelling the debate, is all.

The law should focus on car accidents, the people who cause them, and make those people accountable for their actions. It should leave the distractions alone and go after the distracted.

Elaycee (3,304) Says:
February 20th, 2013 at 10:40 am
So what is the scenario if someone uses the GPS on their mobile? Is that also illegal?

I believe there is an exception for that, provided that there is an attachment to hold the phone.

In Farrar’s non-legal opinion. What about ‘driving without due care and attention’? I think that would apply to anyone taking a photo on whatever device.

Its obvious (to me at least) that the law was written because of the pervasiveness of mobile technology and the fact that people are always on them without regard for the environment in which they are being used.

Focusing the law on all distractions is dumb, you simple cannot cater to every type of distraction that there is. – part of driver training needs to include how to ignore outside influence while driving as well as not trying to multi-task when driving.