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A spokesperson at the Department of the Environment says that the government will issue a statement over the next two days regarding the use of mobile phones while driving.
It is expected that the Minister of State for the Environment, Bobby Molloy, will issue a directive that will effectively ban the use of handheld mobile phones for drivers. A spokesperson at the department confirmed that a statement was due to be issued before the end of the week but she could not say exactly what Molloy was planning to announce.
Last year, the Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey, requested a review on the issue and the committee researching the topic is understood to have reported back. Currently, the use of a mobile phone while driving is not illegal in Ireland, although if a phone becomes a distraction that leads to dangerous driving or an accident, motorists can be charged.
Yet the Automobile Association said last August, when the Dempsey committee began investigating the matter, that such legislation was unnecessary since the current Road Traffic Act already covered a ban. But since that time, the AA has changed its position on the issue.
According to Conor Faughnan, public affairs manager with AA Ireland, the group changed its stance after meeting with Garda Siochana officials who said new legislation would help the police to reign in what Faughnan calls the "one-armed bandits," or drivers who have one hand on the phone and the other on the steering wheel.
"Its a good day for road safety and we hope this new law comes with the appropriate resources for the guards to enforce it," Faughnan said.
Yet the industry, particularly the phone makers and operators are somewhat divided on the issue. In January 2002, mobile industry giants including Motorola urged against laws that ban mobile phones in cars, calling instead for more research and better driver education.
Motorola and other members of the industry group the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CITA) say that lawmakers will not necessarily make the roads safer by preventing drivers from using mobile phones. But bans on the use of mobile phones by drivers already exist in a number of places such as New York, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Moreover 40 other US states are considering enacting the same legislation as in New York.
But other reports from organisations and groups like the University of Utah, the New England Journal of Medicine and ADAC (the German version of AA) say that using a mobile phone while behind the wheel is likely to be of greater distraction to drivers than in-car conversation, or listening to the radio or audio books.
CITA has said that it might endorse "thoughtful hands-free legislation." Faughnan agrees with the CITA saying, "Hands free is a different thing entirely. As we understand it, the new law will affect handheld phones only, although we think that its good practice never to use a phone at all while driving."
"We believe that there is never a situation in life that is so important that you can't take 60 seconds to pull over safely before using the phone," Faughnan said.
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