Focus on drivers on phones

DRIVERS using their mobile phones will be the focus of new government research to confront the alarming rise in deaths on Australia’s roads.

Transport Minister Darren Chester said road safety had become a priority “at the highest levels of global politics”, adding that the Government’s immediate goal was to reduce annual deaths and serious injuries in Australia by at least 30 per cent by 2020.

Separate research into drug driving will also be conducted.