Outlawed: calling for help when driving in a storm?

My horrific experience of the hailstorm that hit Melbourne on Saturday afternoon has proven to me just how impractical the new policies on use of mobile phones while driving are.

As a young, naive P-plater who has grown up in a country that has been drought-affected for my entire life, large pieces of hail were initially unidentifiable to me. It wasn't until a set of about five hailstones slammed on to my Holden Astra's windscreen that I realised they weren't large deposits from birds above, and then I started screaming hysterically. Yes, perhaps I was being rather dramatic, but when I later saw on the news that hundreds of cars were actually damaged as a result of the storm, I realised that I probably wasn't the only one who had been screaming.

Now, I am hoping that no police read this article, because I have to admit that whilst stopped at the intersection, trapped in a scene out of The Day After Tomorrow, I picked up my mobile phone and frantically called my mother. At a time when I was seriously worried for my safety, the ability to call her and have her calm me out of my distressed state on loudspeaker function was truly vital. With her guidance, I managed to safely make my turn and pull over at the first opportunity to wait out the mighty forces of the sky. I honestly question whether I would have managed to deal with the situation safely if I had not had her verbal commentary available on my lap. I also question whether the road subordinates considered days like Saturday when deciding to prohibit any use of phones whilst driving for one of the most vulnerable groups of drivers in society.