Since September the penalty for drivers caught using their mobile phones behind the wheel has increased from four to five demerit points.

As such when the Christmas double demerit period kicks in from December 21 to January 1, anyone caught illegally using a phone whilst driving will loose 80 per cent of their licence as well as a hefty $337.00 fine. 

“I think it’s good, as much as I don’t like losing demerit points (and operating phones) can cause a huge number of accidents, you can (be) putting your music on but it’s still a huge distraction,” said Griffith Custom and Classics Car Club event manager Janelle Smith. 

“I think a lot of people will probably lose their license over the Christmas period, I don't think they should lose their license, (instead) there should be a hefty fine, if the points have to be there they have to be there,” Mrs Smith said.

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Robert Smith, Janelle’s husband and a former truck driver in Griffith agreed. 

“It happens everywhere, everyone does it, it's just the unlucky ones who are getting caught,” Mr Smith said.

“If they’re getting caught they’re going to lose them, I hate to see anyone lose their license but if the rules are the rules, we have to abide by them,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith who used to drive from Griffith to Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide said that from the top cab of his trucks he was able to notice that there is hardly any difference in the number of people texting whilst driving in the country as compared to capital cities.

In NSW it is illegal for learner, P1 and P2 licence holders to use any mobile phone while driving or riding, including when waiting at traffic lights or struck in traffic, fully licensed drivers and riders on the other hand can only make a call on their phone if it is either in a cradle fixed to the vehicle or operated without touching any part of the phone, such as via Bluetooth or voice activation.

Texting, emailing, using social media, taking photos or video calling while driving is all illegal. 

Minister for Roads Melinda Pavey said “we know from a recent RMS survey that 74 per cent of the community support a crackdown to illegal phone use behind the wheel,” Mrs Pavey said.

“We all see it and the community has had enough,” Mrs Pavey said. 

Aside from a higher than usual police vehicle presence being deployed on NSW roads over Christmas to patrol driver behavior, Mrs Pavey said that recent legislation will enable police to use cameras when catching and prosecuting people for driving while using a phone.  

The number of people caught using their phones illegally has grown 18 per cent from 2014 to 2015, increasing even after the number of demerit points rose from three to four in January 2016. 

There were 35,370 fines given for driving whilst using a phone in the 2014 to 2015 financial year, 38,443 in the 2015 to 2016 financial year, 40,631 in the 2016 to 2017 financial year and 41,809 in the 2017 to 2018 financial year. 

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