Police target drivers’ mobile phone use

POLICE will crack down on EastLink motorists speeding and using mobile phones.
Victoria Police this week said that Operation EastLink had commenced on the Eastern and Monash Freeways and EastLink tollway, with police out in force to catch bad drivers.
Police region four traffic adviser Acting Inspector Tony Hill said all motorists needed to be aware of the consequences of their behaviour.
“People need to realise that, at 100 kilometres per hour, they are travelling 27 metres per second,” A/Insp Hill said.
“If they take their eyes off the road for four seconds to answer a mobile phone, they will have travelled in excess of 100 metres – and a lot can happen in 100 metres.
“Research has found that mobile phone-using drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a collision and that using one is comparable to having a BAC [blood alcohol content] over 0.05.
“If you need to answer your phone, then pull off the road because the call itself isn’t life-threatening but answering it is,” he said.