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Yelling at kids in your car may get you fined soon if lawmakers have their way. And too many offenses could see your license taken away, or even tossed in jail.
A new law proposed in Australia this week is looking to change how drivers look at distractions while behind the wheel. Instead of focusing just on technology causing dangerous or distracted drivers, this law hoping to shift focus on other things in the car that can potentially cause accidents.
One of those things? The children in your backseat.
Drivers who look away from the road for longer than two seconds could see fines. This includes when your children are fighting in the backseat over all sorts of things, like their favorite flavor of candy, the best chocolate, or who gets to use the TV first at home.
It also includes looking away for things like pets in the car, reading a book (who even reads books anymore?), or focusing your attention on other passengers in general.
The National Transport Commission says that on the technology side of things, they are looking to update laws to allow drivers more access to their phones.
The new law will allow drivers to legally utilize more Bluetooth and smartphone hands-free technology, like voice commands. Current laws prohibit pretty much all of this, though you have to assume drivers in Australia are using them anyway.
The driving laws on both using a mobile phone and driving distracted in Australia are unchanged since 1999, so it is long past time to update.
To put it in perspective, the most popular cellphone that year was the Nokia 3310, a brick of a device with a black and white screen. Since then, cell phone technology and hands-free devices have come a long way.
A spokesman for the Royal Automobile Association said that they are hoping these news laws lead to a “better understanding of what all the distractions are in a vehicle other than a mobile phone”.
Fines could be upwards of $1,000 depending on the infraction, showing just how serious Australia is taking distracted driving. In the US, approximately 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured daily as a result of at least one driver being distracted.
