Persisting mobile phone use while driving and possible solutions for New Zealand

Abstract

In New Zealand the use of hand-held phones while driving was prohibited in 2009, but ‘hands-free’ phones are still permitted. We recently presented the results of an observational study into mobile phone among Wellington drivers at a conference (for details see the proceedings). The main findings were that out of 8335 cars systematically observed at traffic lights and 9520 cars in moving traffic (each at three different Wellington locations), the use of mobile phones was 1.87% (95%CI: 1.60-2.18) and 1.34% (95%CI: 1.13-1.59) respectively.