DRIVERS FAIL SIREN’S CALL

IT is illegal for drivers to use handheld phones, but unless an accident happens it is legal for someone to motor along with headphones on and the music cranked up.

Queenslanders who are conscious of the risks involved in driving on our roads will puzzle over that.

But if a motorist or motorcyclist is seen to be wearing headphones and is involved in a crash, it could be argued they were not paying attention to their driving and what was going on around them or – as the RACQ website suggests – they were not being sufficiently considerate of other road users. Police surely would then charge them with careless driving or driving without due care and attention.

Police last week stopped a motorbike rider who was clocked at 95 in a 60km/h zone, but because he was wearing earphones it took considerable time before the rider realised he was being pursued by a patrol with siren and lights. Police told the Bulletin this sort of thing was common.

As roads become busier and drivers have to deal with more distractions, the time to shrug such situations off has long passed. There are laws against texting and reading mobile phone screens while driving, yet every frustrated commuter has stories of being held up at lights – daily – waiting for drivers in front to look up from their lap and hit the accelerator, and of looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing the driver behind tailgating with their head down. Headphones are an extension of these problems.

If drivers are engrossed in the music, they cannot hear sirens or other traffic and their concentration is light years away from the road conditions. Why this is not illegal is a question for our state politicians.