Transport authorities hope a new take on driver distraction will encourage people to pay attention behind the wheel.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has launched its new 'Let Driving Distract You' campaign.
Spokesperson Andy Knackstedt says the car can be seen as a safe-haven from the never-ending stream of dings, likes, messages and emails.
"Instead of telling people what not to do, we're saying hey look - you've actually got an opportunity when you're behind the wheel to have a break from the thumb."
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Knackstedt says most crashes caused by driver distraction are related to mobile phones.
"There's a lot of potential causes of driver distraction, but most of those are actually related to our mobile phones - texting, talking on a mobile phone, using a GPS or increasingly, listening to music on a phone...
"There's that constant desire to look at the phone, to pick up a message, to return a message. What we're saying is hey look, when you're behind the wheel it's actually an opportunity for you to have some time away from the phone and relax, and focus on your driving."
Last year cameras pointed at a stretch of road in East Tamaki found nearly 4 percent of drivers were staring at their phones, not the road.
Knackstedt says there is no better reason for not replying to a message or a phone call than "sorry, I was driving".
So far this year 192 people have died on the roads - about the same pace as last year, and well up on 2015.
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