Four years ago, his daughter Sarah, 23, was hit and killed by a distracted driver, throwing an otherwise normal life into chaos.

The driver, a young man himself, had not been drinking or taking drugs, but had been distracted from the road for roughly eight seconds.

"Now we have to live with the consequences, and we have to bring people's faces to this so they understand there are consequences," Mr Frazer said.

Mr Frazer was present on Wednesday as Road Safety Minister Shane Rattenbury announced distinct new penalties for Canberra drivers who text, read social media, or in some way use their phones behind the wheel.

Drivers will now face the loss of four demerit points and a $511 fine.

Mr Frazer believes most drivers don't realise the serious, life-destroying consequences that driver distraction can cause.

He is urging people to break their obsession with connectivity, and says drivers should put their phone in the glove box and just "drive".

"You're sitting in a cocoon, a metal cocoon that's particularly comfortable, you're listening to music, you're communicating with people, but you've now taken your eye off the very reason that you're on that road, and that is to drive," he said.

The tougher penalties for mobile phone use begin on Thursday.

Mr Rattenbury said a personal brush with a distracted driver last week underlined the importance of the tougher measures.

He said he had been crossing the road at a set of traffic lights on the green pedestrian signal, when a distracted driver went right through a red light in front of him.

"People need to be focussed on their driving, there are a lot of dangers on the road, things can happen very quickly, in just a split-second when looking down at the phone," he said.

Existing penalties for talking and driving remain, including a $416 fine and the deduction of three demerit points.