A Tweed Coast man is petitioning Apple and Google to make phones automatically block incoming calls and texts in vehicles after his mate was left a paraplegic when he was hit by a driver using her phone.

Katherine Roche was reaching for her mobile phone when she hit Graham Walters as he was cycling north of Brisbane in August 2016.

Roche was sentenced earlier this year to a wholly suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence for dangerous driving and was disqualified from driving for two years.

Smartphones currently have 'do not disturb while driving' technology which detects when a phone is in a vehicle.

When the feature is turned on, incoming calls and texts are rejected and the caller or sender is notified that the person they are trying to reach is driving.

But Klaus Bartosch from the Tweed Coast is a long-time cycling teammate of Mr Walters and is petitioning Apple and Google to take the feature further.

"What they've implemented is purely the optics of wanting to be seen to have done something around a problem they clearly know exists," he said.

A step-by-step guide to activate the 'Do not disturb while driving' feature on an Apple device.

Mr Bartosch said the problem was that many smartphone users did not know that feature existed and those who did know had to physically activate it.

"The simple truth is that 99.9 per cent of the population internationally are unaware of it. As a result, that rather important feature isn't used by anybody," he said.

Mr Bartosch wants the global tech companies to make the feature mandatory so users have to opt out, rather than the current opt-in scenario so a device is automatically disabled in a vehicle unless connected to Bluetooth or the user overrides it.

And if a user opts out, Mr Bartosch wants that to be logged for evidence in court, if required.

"[So it] logs the fact that you've actively chosen to disable it so emergency services can be aware that you've deliberately chosen to ignore that which is safe," he said.

Mr Bartosch, who runs a technology business, said what he was calling for was very achievable for companies such as Apple and Google.

"These smart phones are already aware that your device is actively moving on a road and likely to be in a vehicle," he said.

"Honestly, for Google and Apple, it would take them a few horrible days, it would be very easy, swift, and fast for them to take this action and would save millions globally from death and injury."

Both Apple and Google declined to comment about the petition, however they each provided links to their 'Do not disturb while driving' feature.

Missing the simple things

Graham Walters returns home after six months in hospital following the crash in August 2016. (Supplied: Klaus Bartosch)

Mr Walters, who used to work as a paramedic on the Sunshine Coast, said his life had been "irreversibly changed forever" when he was paralysed.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Walters said his life was harder than it needed to be and that his injuries had taken a toll on himself and his family.

"It's the simple things in my life that I miss the most, like holding my wife's hand when we go for a walk," he said.

"Walking our dogs, I miss swimming in our pool, I miss a full body hug."

He has welcomed any initiative to make the roads safer for motorists and cyclists.

A year after the crash, Graham Walters was back on the road with his team of "great" supporters. (Supplied: Graham Walters)

In the past year, he not only managed to get back on the road thanks to a team of passionate supporters who helped fundraise more than $13,000 for a handcycle, but he completed his first race on it in May 2018 at the state time trial at Redlands in Brisbane.

He has also progressed to weekly sessions on a stationary bike but he is not expecting he will be roadside on a two-wheeler anytime soon.

"That is in the hands of the gods and scientists [but] I don't think I'll ever get back into cycling as I was," he said.

Stark reality

Figures from Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads show that in the year between November 2016 and October 2017, 16,874 infringements were issued for drivers using a mobile phone.

More than 400 offences were recorded for drivers being caught twice or more within 12 months.

Graham Walters (L) with his Vision Crusaders cycling teammates Klaus Bartosch (C) and Robert Dixon (R) before the crash. The team has raised more than $1.5m for cancer research since 2011. (Supplied: Klaus Bartosch)

Mr Bartosch did not believe fining drivers was effective in a society increasingly reliant on, and addicted to, smartphones.

"Traffic fines aren't going to change behaviour here, it'd be like saying that fining people who are drug addicts is going to stop them from taking drugs," he said.

"Mobile phones fall into the same category and we are absolutely addicted to these devices and what we need is the right deployment of technology to drive really solid outcomes."

He acknowledged that while every age group was affected by mobile phone use, young drivers were particularly at risk.

"The younger generation has grown up with these devices and, for them, they perceive it as normal, but it's everybody with mobile phones behind the wheel that are guilty," Mr Bartosch said.

'As bad as alcohol, drugs'

Road Trauma Services Queensland president and former police officer Garry Church said using a mobile phone while driving was an offence that was not age-specific.

"I am on the road most days [and] I am constantly seeing people on mobile phones; right across the board you see different age groups using mobile phones," Mr Church said.

He believed upgrading the offence from an infringement notice to one that went before a magistrate could be a deterrent.

"Put them before a magistrate and get them to explain their actions and the possibility of looking at a very heavy fine I think would be more of a deterrent," he said.

Mr Church said for a motorist travelling at 100kph in a lane 3.6 metres wide, it would take 3.5 seconds to cross the centre line.

"Not much time there for error. It does not give the oncoming driver any time to get out of your way," he said.

"Using a mobile phone while driving is just as bad as being 0.08 [blood alcohol content] or being under the influence of a drug."