Ten drivers were caught using their cellphones in just 90 minutes at a single Auckland intersection yesterday, as police begin a nationwide blitz.
Photo: AFP
The number of people caught using their phone while driving or in a traffic queue has tripled in the five years and police have started a crackdown on distracted drivers this week.
Distraction was a factor in more than 1000 crashes nationally last year - with 22 people killed and 19 seriously injured.
Figures released by the police last month showed 21,148 people were fined for doing using phones in 2014, compared to 13,547 the year before and just 8232 in 2010.
Officers at a busy intersection in Mt Eden yesterday afternoon handed out an average of one ticket every nine minutes to drivers caught using their phones.
Sergeant Ashley Gore said Auckland City district officers alone wrote about 500 tickets a month for drivers using phones.
