A horror crash involving highway patrol officers in Sydney last week has prompted calls for tougher penalties for mobile phone use from the South Coast Police District.
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Senior Sergeant Angus Duncombe from South Coast Highway Patrol said mobile phone use on the state’s roads was an epidemic and ranked as one of the main contributing factors to crashes next to drug and alcohol use.
He said Friday’s incident at Leumeah, in which a 22-year old driver allegedly collided with two officers setting up a roadside RBT, had caused anger among officers.
“The incident hits home that (mobile phone use while driving) is not going to select who it’s going to affect,” Snr Sgt Duncombe said.
If we were catching 500 drink-drivers every two hours, everyone would be crying there’s an epidemic.
- Angus Duncombe
“It has now affected two families in the NSW Police Force doing their job. That could’ve been any of our officers, of myself, setting up an RBT site.
“All Highway Patrol staff know using mobile phones is rampant. Whether it be in the country or metro areas, we’ve all seen it.”
In 2016, close to 40,000 people were charged with mobile phone offences. A recent trial of a mobile phone detection camera on the Sydney Harbour Bridge caught 500 people using their phones in the space of two hours.
Snr Sgt Duncombe said misunderstanding of the law and driver lack of responsibility needed to be addressed.
“We’re getting 500 people in two hours using mobile phones and the only consequence we’ve got is a monetary fine of $300-400 and four demerit points,” he said.
“If we were catching 500 drink-drivers every two hours, everyone would be crying there’s an epidemic.”
These figures have triggered a push among officers for tougher penalties, Snr Sgt Duncombe said.
“There needs to be serious consideration as to on-the-spot suspensions,” he said.
“We need to have a real consequence for people who are taking risks on our road.
“We can suspend people’s licences for excessive speed, we can suspend people’s licences for breaching the mid-range PCA – we need to look at another form of outcome for a particular offence that has the potential to kill people.”
In a recent one-day operation, more than 1000 drivers were issued fines across the state for using mobile phones.
The penalty for mobile phone offences is now $330 and four demerit points or $439 and four demerit points in a school zone.