Using a mobile phone while driving will soon be outlawed because it could have fatal consequences, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said today.
With a new Road Safety Bill set to outlaw the use of handheld mobile phones while driving, Mr Cullen confirmed it would be enforced in a bid to reduce the death toll on the roads.
"The issue of handheld mobile phones while driving has long been discussed. It is my view that the time for discussion has ended.
"It is reckless to drive and hold a phone simultaneously. Some drivers feel they have more arms than an octopus while driving," he said, at a National Roads Authority safety conference in Dublin.
"Missing a call won't kill you, but an accident could."
At a major road safety conference attended by experts from the US, Australia and Sweden, Mr Cullen said he intended to ban driving with a handheld phone and make it a penalty points offence.
The penalty points system will be extended from five offences to cover a total of 35 from next month.
"The emphasis of this extension is on offences that relate to driver behaviour, because that is the greatest single contributory factor in road collisions," Mr Cullen said.
Other provisions in the upcoming Bill include proposals on random breath testing and privatisation of speed cameras.
Mr Cullen said the 399 people killed in crashes during 2005, and 72 people who lost their lives in the first two-months of this year, highlighting that the situation is not improving.
He warned improved driver behaviour, tougher enforcement, greater personal responsibility and an appreciation of other road users were challenges that must be met.
"Through tough laws, visible enforcement, enhanced engineering, targeted education and focussed public awareness we can meet these challenges in a real way," he said.
"The primary target of the existing road safety strategy is to reduce road deaths to no more than 300 by the end of this year. Achievement of this target will be very difficult, given recent trends.
Our focus therefore is to continue to implement the key initiatives outlined in the strategy that are aimed at achieving reductions in deaths and injuries," he said.
PA