By Erin Tasker  December 15, 2011

Too many drivers are ignoring a ban on using cellphones while driving and texting out of sight, Ashburton’s Highway Patrol sergeant Steve Burgerhout said.

And most of those people knew they were doing wrong, he said.
His comments followed a recent nationwide blitz on cellphone use while driving which saw more than 800 infringement notices issued nationally.
Nine of those tickets were issued by Highway Patrol officers in Mid and South Canterbury.
In November (excluding the week-long blitz), 10 infringement notices relating to cellphone use in cars were issued by Highway Patrol officers in the region.
Mr Burgerhout said generally the offences were detected by a plain clothes spotter or unmarked car.
“It appears that the majority of offenders know enough about what they are doing wrong to put it right if they think they are being observed,” Mr Burgerhout said.
“Texting under the window sill of cars seems to be increasingly common.”
Cellphone use wasn’t the only focus of the blitz thought, with 102 restraint offences also detected in the Mid and South Canterbury policing area.
The nationwide blitz was timed to coincide with the two-year anniversary of the introduction of the legislation banning mobile phone use while driving and it resulted in a 119 per cent increase in drivers using cellphones, with more than 800 notices issued.
National road policing manager superintendent Paula Rose said the results were disappointing.
“I think drivers do understand the dangers, they just can’t be bothered to put their safety and that of other road users before this one phone call,” she said.
People were taking an ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude, she said.
In all, more than 15,000 offence notices have been issued nationwide over the last two years.