Inattentive motorists in Queensland will face police scrutiny over the holiday period, after the state’s police minister blamed driver distraction for contributing to road accidents.
Police Minister Jack Dempsey says the ‘fatal four’ causes of
accidents police usually focus on will be expanded to the ‘fatal
five’ to include inattention.
Speeding, drink driving, not wearing a seatbelt and driving while
fatigued make up the rest of the ‘fatal five’.
“Too many Queensland drivers are being distracted while on the road
by things like using a mobile phone, complex sound systems,
on-board DVD and satellite navigation,” Dempsey says.
“Between January 1, 2010 and July 31, 2012 more than 96,000 driver
distraction offences were recorded in Queensland.”
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart says officers will be out in force
over the Christmas holiday period.
“Over this period, police will be deployed across the state and
will use covert and marked mobile speed cameras, marked and
unmarked police patrols, fixed speed cameras, hand-held speed
detection devices and the automatic number plate recognition
system,” he says.