Sixty per cent fewer NSW drivers are being fined for using their mobile phones while driving compared with four years ago, a drop best explained as better behaviour by drivers, the state government says.
Statistics from the Office of State Revenue showed 33,500 drivers were fined for using their mobile phone while driving last financial year. The figure had fallen steadily year-on-year from a peak of about 52,500 in 2010/11.
NSW police said the most recent figures were provisional and could rise but denied the broader drop was due to any fall in enforcement. They identified three factors that might be leading to less phone use:
- The deterrent effect of highway patrols
- The government's Get Your Hand Off it Campaign, which warned of the dangers of driving while distracted
- The growing use of smarter cars equipped with hands-free technology.
“Mobile phone offences remain a priority for the NSW Police Force,” said Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith.
But in Victoria, where a driver-distraction advertising campaign also ran last year, the figures had held steady.
In 2012/13, 58,000 Victorians were fined for using their phones while driving, a rise of 7 per cent on the previous year.
Victorian police were unable to provide data but, according to newspaper reports, five years ago the figure was also more than 50,000.
A specialist in the human factor in transportation Mike Regan from the University of NSW said, without further information, it was difficult to identify the cause of the NSW fall and whether police enforcement was becoming a greater deterrent or going off the boil.
But he said international evidence suggested the power of deterrence soon waned.
“The laws are effective initially but, after about a year or so, the rates at which people use their phones tend to go back,” Professor Regan said. “The only way to make them [effective] is to make sure police enforcement is maintained strongly.”
In late 2012, NSW law was made more stringent and included even just touching a phone in any way while driving being made illegal. Penalties were also increased to three demerit points and a $300 fine.
About 215 NSW crashes had been caused by mobile phone use in the past five years, the government said. That figure included four fatalities.
But the government said this figure was considerably underreported, due to the difficulty in finding evidence of phone use at a crash scene and a reliance on drivers admitting they were using a phone.
