Exclusive: Woman involved in crash caused by driver on their phone was told she may not have children

Using your phone and driving is out of control, and Jade Linklater knows all too well what a driver distracted by their phone can do.

"It can ruin someone's life, it really can. Just like that," she told Newshub. "It takes a couple of seconds and you could kill somebody."

A driver distracted by texting hit a car carrying Jade and her friends. The driver - a mother - was killed.

Linklater spent weeks in the hospital, but she and her friends escaped with serious injuries.

"We were lucky, very, very lucky," she said. 

Forty-one people have been killed and 109 seriously injured since we banned phones while driving ten years ago.

The operating doctor told Linklater she might not be able to have children.

"She kind of looked at me and said well you may fall pregnant you may not and if you do you may have a lot of trouble carrying," Linklater told Newshub.

Haunted by the crash - Linklater said Kiwi attitudes need to change.

And while distracted drivers have always been an issue - indulging in eating and even working - she said phones take it to an all new level.

"Drinking and driving now is seen as shameful, whereas using your phone and driving is almost seen at times as being quite cool. I mean I see people out snapchatting while driving," she said.

Newshub was with police as they caught one driver every three minutes in Wellington's Mt Victoria tunnel.

Looking at other countries, Australia is a world leader right now. In Sydney, there is camera technology on trial that picks up drivers on their phones. 

But it is "deterrence" that Linklater really thinks can work with drivers - she likes Queensland's planned $1000 fine, compared to New Zealand's $80

A thousand dollars is about the same as a new phone," she told Newshub. "It's a bit of a hit, so I think that would be more of a strong message and people would take it a bit more seriously."

And Linklater was able to have a child, little Quinn, which makes her fear more about distracted drivers. 

"I get really frustrated and especially frustrated when I see parents on their phones when they are driving with their children in the car," she said.

Putting your phone down saves lives.

Newshub.