By EWAN KENNEDY
22 September 2008

You would think that drivers would take extra care as they entered their home area. After all, their neighbours are close by, as are kids, dogs and all sorts of assorted items like footballs, cricket bats, skateboards and the like. Sadly, my observations show exactly the opposite takes place. The closer people are to their home the more likely they are to drive dangerously.

That disturbing fact dawned on me the other evening when I was waiting outside my home for someone to come and pick me up. My house is near the entrance to a Gold Coast suburban area and there are something like a couple of hundred homes upstream from my place. Meaning there are a fair number of cars travelling past most of the time. Particularly of an evening when a swag of mums and dads arrive home from their workplaces.

What scared me was that a large number of drivers were on their mobile phones. Presumably to tell their partners they were getting close to home so the kettle could be turned on, the dog locked up, the kids dragged out of the bath, or whatever. I wonder if there has been a case of someone saying, “I’ll be home in two minutes” – then never arriving. Almost certainly, there has.

My opinion on the dangers of using mobiles while driving is on record, almost to the point of obsession. These things are killers, possibly to the same level as drink driving, perhaps even worse.

It’s not just the talking on the phone that’s dangerous. My blood runs cold every time I realise I am travelling alongside a vehicle that’s being driven (if ‘driven’ is the right word) by someone who is flicking through a phone list on their mobile and is staring intently at the screen while doing so. Sheer, criminal madness.

There's very little chance of police being on duty in a quiet neighbourhood like mine. After all, it’s much easier and more lucrative for them to hide behind bushes with speed cameras. So these phone-home drivers had obviously decided it was OK to take a chance. Stupid thinking, presumably they feel the only reason not to use a mobile while driving is to avoid a fine – not to save a life.

At least it’s unlikely that these idiots will go to the trouble of sending an SMS when they are that close, instead of talking on the phone. Sending text messages is apparently becoming ever more prevalent, because it’s harder for the police to spot than actually talking on the phone. My mind boggles at the mentality of these people.

ewan@marque.com.au