[rustynutz]

Victorian Coroner calls for mobile phone ban in cars after death of motorist Melissa Ryan

AUTHORITIES should consider a total ban on all mobile phones and introduce technology to stop motorists being able to use phones, a coroner has recommended.

Victorian Coroner Heather Spooner today urged VicRoads to extend bans on using mobile phones while driving to also include hands-free use by drivers.
Ms Spooner also recommended the development of in-vehicle technologies to prevent drivers from using a mobile phone while driving.

The recommendations came following an inquest into the death of Melissa Ryan who died in a fatal car crash in January 2011 on the Monash Freeway.

Handing down her finding into the death today Ms Spooner said it was likely a "hands-free" telephone call Ms Ryan was having at the time of the crash was a significant feature of the accident.

Ms Ryan, 32, was driving a petrol-powered 2008 Volkswagen Golf GTI with a manual transmission when a truck hit it from behind.
Her family still believes the car may have malfunctioned and suddenly stopped, despite a coroner ruling it out.

Ms Ryan's fiance Wayne Belford said the finding was disappointing.
"We would like to have seen the coroner investigate more thoroughly the 300 Volkswagen drivers that have come forward on the back of thorough investigation by (the media) in relation to safety issues they had experienced with their vehicles, which did include instances of deceleration, rapid deceleration," he told reporters.

Melissa Ryan, 32, was probably using her hands-free mobile phone when she was involved in the crash that claimed her life, a coroner has found.

Mr Belford said he had 19 statutory declarations from Volkswagen drivers about problems with their cars, including two driving the same model as Ms Ryan's.

The truck driver told the inquest the car slowed but he didn't see any brake lights.

Hundreds of Volkswagen drivers later came forward citing similar experiences.

Safety recalls and "dealer service campaigns'' to rectify Volkswagen faults, following drivers' complaints of "sudden deceleration'' or the car going into "limp home mode'', affected diesel-powered cars and automated ``DSG'' gearboxes.

But Ms Spooner ruled out any systemic safety issues with the car.
"Melissa was engaged in a lengthy mobile phone conversation prior to the collision and it continued up to the actual point of the collision," she said.
"It is likely that Melissa was speaking on her mobile phone that was hands-free or on loud speaker.

"It was the opinion of experienced operational police officers … that drivers can become engrossed in phone conversations to the extent that their ability to maintain travel speed is adversely affected, they slow down considerably, even on freeways," she said.

Ms Spooner called on authorities to re-examine current road laws saying they didn't reflect current research.

"(It) has shown the risk of crashing while using hands-free is equal to that of handheld use of mobile phones," she said.
A recall of 26,000 Volkswagen cars in Australia in June did not include Ms Ryan's model.

In a statement, Volkswagen Group Australia said it acknowledged the coroner's finding that the vehicle did not contribute to the cause of the accident.

"Volkswagen Group Australia would like to reiterate that there is no correlation between the coronial inquest and the recent reports concerning the current transmission recalls," it said. "The vehicle at the centre of the coronial inquest had a manual transmission with no identified issues while the recalls only relate to certain Volkswagen vehicles with DSG transmissions."

[rustynutz]

The coroner has no idea whether the phone call was actually the cause of the slow down yet calls for mobile phones to be banned in cars....What a dickhead!

From what I heard on the radio, it appears she basically disregarded the statutory declarations from other Volkswagen drivers re instances of deceleration and/or rapid deceleration (including two driving the same model) due to there being no faults logged with the car in question.

As we have found on this forum, not all faults are logged..... 

[Dazzler]

Please mark this in your diary folks .. I agree with Rusty on this one. 

[rustynutz]

I'm sure it's happened at least once before, mate... 

[Dazzler]

I'm sure it's happened at least once before, mate... 

 

[Keith]

Oh come on!
We all know VAG products are faultless!
And we know Forum members can be like Politicians from rival parties too!

[eye30]

Please mark this in your diary folks .. I agree with Rusty on this one. 

On whifh point?

My personal thinking is that drivers should not use mobiles in vehicles whether moving or stopped.

Also, Passengers should not as it can distract the driver......

[Dazzler]

I agree that the Coroner's case is fairly thin with regard to the Handsfree Mobile being the cause Banning any phone use in the car would be an over-reaction in my opinion..

Besides, I need to agree with Rusty on something or every thread would be neverending 

[Just Rick]

I'm going to be totally controversial here(so whats different you say)in this particulr case I think the coroner has totally misinterpreted this one.

I for one,fully support the total ban on mobile use in vehicles,UNLESS you have total handsfree,or controls on your steering wheel,to me talking on the mobile while driving is no more distracting than talking to a passenger in the car,mind you IF I use my mobile in the car it is generally when I am stopped,if I'm not I generally just say sorry I'm driving and hang up,in the car my phone is set to auto answer and voice activated end call.

I'm pretty sure I have said before,I would love to be the bloke who invented the chip technology which could be fitted to cars which would disable mobiles,while the ignition is turned on.

Again.in this case I think the coroner has missed a lot of the possible causes for this accident,but again mobile phone use,people screwing with GPS,drink driving are all big contributers to vehicle accidents and road deaths.

Not but twenty odd years ago,none of us had mobiles,we used to spot a phone booth stop get out and make a call,why can't we just use our heads and do this with mobiles,Thats why I still love drivingTrucks,some of the ridiculous and down right stupid stuff you witness on the roads.

[beerman]

Welcome to the world of the coroner, they can make any outlandish conclusions or suggestions no matter how impractical, from the evidence reported, there was no evidence of any fault with the vehicle, out of the hundreds with the fault only 2 were relevant to the matter at hand.

The mobile phone thing is plausible, but at the end of the day, the Coroner is charged with making a decision, and too many open findings aren't good for business...Still don't know how finding didn't go against the truck driver....one would think that you should detect the closing distance and react accordingly brake lights or not.....

[Just Rick]

...Still don't know how finding didn't go against the truck driver....one would think that you should detect the closing distance and react accordingly brake lights or not.....

Sorry beerman this one I can dispute,I have been three semi lengths behind a car,where they have in fact deaccelerated without brake lights heavily,at 65kph fully loaded,with reaction times,that safe distance is reduced within a second or two,luckily I didn't hit the stupid woman,mind you you couldn't have fitted a rollie paper between here vehicle and mine,like my Truck I do a pre check on everything on my car each morning before I set off and each afternoon before I leave work I at least check my indicators and brakelighta are working.

Hell I know of many who don't check ANYTHING on their vehicles, from one service to the next,to me these PPL shouldn't even have a licenses.

[eye30]

As a minimum Weekly checks should be done

[beerman]

...Still don't know how finding didn't go against the truck driver....one would think that you should detect the closing distance and react accordingly brake lights or not.....

Sorry beerman this one I can dispute,I have been three semi lengths behind a car,where they have in fact deaccelerated without brake lights heavily,at 65kph fully loaded,with reaction times,that safe distance is reduced within a second or two,luckily I didn't hit the stupid woman,mind you you couldn't have fitted a rollie paper between here vehicle and mine,like my Truck I do a pre check on everything on my car each morning before I set off and each afternoon before I leave work I at least check my indicators and brakelighta are working.

Hell I know of many who don't check ANYTHING on their vehicles, from one service to the next,to me these PPL shouldn't even have a licenses.

The operation of the brake lights is not as I understand it an issue in this case. The non operation of the brake lights I think highlights the slower deceleration of the vehicle that one would expect under emergency braking conditions.

But back to your example (and I accept that I said brake lights or not) The fact that detected, reacted and stopped (al be it with nothing to spare) sort of proves that a good driver paying reasonable attention will detect this and react, the  reaction time plus stopping distance should allow for this.

But as I type this I seem to recall that the driver of the car overtook, changed lanes then slowed, so that being the case, my statement re the truck driver is void anyway (though I don't know how someone can overtake then forget to keep going, in a phone call or not).

[Phil №❶]

Rusty, the coroner is NOT a d***head.

The mobile phone theory is a load of hogwash, designed to feed the government's desire to outlaw phone in cars entirely.

If the driver is distracted by a phone call, that would never result in a sudden deceleration to the degree that a truck could not stop or avoid collision. What a load of balls.

If a conversation is the reason for this accident, then there should not be any talking allowed with passengers in cars either.

[eye30]

Too much is placed on rear brake lights being lit before following drivers react and slow down themselves.

If one is observing the road and surroundings then they should realise they are getting nearer to the vehicle in front and react accordingly.

Talking on a mobile whether hands free or not you are NOT concentrating 100% on the road but more like 20% with the other 80% about the conversation you are having.

[Phil №❶]

How do you arrive at 80/20, Eye  A guess, perhaps. 

[eye30]

I could have said 10/90 or 30/70 or any combination..

I was showing that concentration on driving is reduced as one may be engrossed in the conversation to the detriment on safe driving.

I have seen first hand drivers on the phone making left or right turns without indication and stopping millimetres away from the car in front because they are talking on their mobiles.

Why is it when i see drivers talking away, whilst vehicle is moving, with the phone to their ear there is never police around!

[Just Rick]

after seeing many of the conversations here,all I can say and I've said it before about becoming a police officer,people want to sit in a truck for a fortnight or even a week and see some of the incredibly stupid things people do in front of trucks.

I have lost count the amount of times I have had people,bust their balls to get in front of me when I am doing the dollar and then just slow down either under braking,or by just taking their foot off the accelerator,to this day I have no idea why people do this.

I wouldn't call the coroner a D*#head,but she has failed to look at every possibility,especially with all the evidence at hand of vehicle failure,like Phil said they are looking at reasons to ban mobiles in car and also as I have said I got no issue with that,especially those who text.

There are only TWO people here who will ever know the truth,one of those is deceased and if it was the fault of the truck driver,he knows it and he will have nightmares one way or another for the rest of his life.

This is one of the threads that can go around and around in circles,with no one in agreance.

Since this invovled a late model VW,just to go off topic,have you seen the prices VW is throwing their vehicles out the door No More To Pay,Drive Away,me thinks their mechanicl and electrical problems are really now starting to hurt them.

[rustynutz]

Haven't seen anything so far that changes my mind as to the coroner being a dickhead..... 

If she chose the "mobile" to appease our road safety clowns, then that makes her a dickhead....
If she didn't blame the truck driver for at least part fault, then I reckon that makes her a dickhead.
If she purposely ignored evidence that other VW's have suffered sudden slowing down, then that makes her a dickhead... 

[Just Rick]

Haven't seen anything so far that changes my mind as to the coroner being a dickhead..... 

If she chose the "mobile" to appease our road safety clowns, then that makes her a dickhead....
If she didn't blame the truck driver for at least part fault, then I reckon that makes her a dickhead.
If she purposely ignored evidence that other VW's have suffered sudden slowing down, then that makes her a dickhead... 

  Well I guess then,In Your Opinion,she's a dickhead 

[rustynutz]

 

[Phil №❶]

Haven't seen anything so far that changes my mind as to the coroner being a dickhead..... 

The Coroner is a woman 

[Just Rick]

Haven't seen anything so far that changes my mind as to the coroner being a dickhead..... 

The Coroner is a woman 

So maybe she likes what Rusty is calling her 

[rustynutz]

Haven't seen anything so far that changes my mind as to the coroner being a dickhead..... 

The Coroner is a woman 

Yes...