Really Mental Services
Apart from the obvious mentalness of :
-touching phone whilst stopped at lights = extremely dangerous
-touching phone whilst stopped with engine off = perfectly safe
I'll admit I've had a phone call whilst driving, and I've taken the phone out of my pocket to see who it is - if it's urgent, I'll pull over, if it can wait, I'll keep driving and call back when I get home (or, more likely, completely forget). The act of checking who it is is less distracting than changing the song on my mp3 player or trying to work out where the turn-off is in a GPS, or doing any of the multitude of the other things-that-people-do-but-aren't-explicitly-banned-yet.
Also - and this is a big example of how out of date our lawmakers are - what happens to people whose cars have start-stop technology? *technically* the engine is turned off, so touching their phone before turning off ignition switch is ok? but all others are obviously death on wheels?
Apparently the massive dangers of using these devices disappears when you're tasked with enforcing the laws instead of policing them - (I don't have a problem with police using data terminals whilst driving - obviously it's necessary - but I do have an issue with the double standards. Surely a dangerous act is a dangerous act regardless of the job description?)
Lastly, from the .PDF comes this little example of how clear the rule changes can be:
"Pedestrians or cyclists crossing roads at lights
If traffic lights change to yellow or red while a pedestrian or cyclist is crossing the road at the lights, they may continue to the far side of the road (as intended).
Penalty: $66"
So do they get a $66 penalty or are they free to continue to the other side?! Or are they now LOCKED IN to crossing the road, and any attempt to turn back or stop will result in a $66 fine? Obviously crossing with a little red man is illegal, but this isn't new - nor is it detailed in the pamphlet.