'Drivers, put your phones down': Father who lost leg in crash makes plea
A Perth father who lost a leg in a crash is pleading with drivers to put their phones down or lock them away.
Matthew Chapman has also called for tougher penalties if drivers continue to use their phones on the road, like in Singapore, where phones are seized and repeat offenders face jail-time.
Mr Chapman knows what a split second can do: “My whole life changed in an instant”.
Now, the new dad wants to spare others the pain he is going through.
“I can't even support my lovely wife and daughter. I want to be a proper father and I can’t do that,” he said.
Matthew was making a delivery in Nedlands, when a driver ran into him, crushing him between her car and his truck.
Dr Christine Caffrey was found guilty of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
Phone records showed her daughter called her at 7.16pm.
At the same time, a witness called triple zero, but a judge found he could not be sure she was using the phone when she crashed.
“I still see a lot of people using their phones and I actually get scared,” Mr Chapman said.
In eleven months last year, WA police handed out more than 12,000 fines and charged 335 drivers.
On average, that is 43 drivers caught every day.
WA's road safety commissioner Kim Papalia has called for a debate over whether tougher penalties are needed.
In Singapore, repeat offenders face up to three years in jail and first-time offenders have their phone and SIM card seized.
Surveys found it worked.
“They are three times more likely to be prepared to lose their car than to lose their mobile phone,” Kim Papalia said.
“I think that would work. It would definitely send a message,” Mr Chapman said.
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