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Mobile phone crackdown caught 8,000 drivers in a week – despite rising penalties

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Using a hand-held phone while driving is a potentially lethal offence

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23 January 2017

Mobile phone penalties to raise ban risk

  • In November it was confirmed that new penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone will rise to 6 points and £200 fine
  • There will be no alternative of ‘remedial training’ to avoid the penalty
  • This means new drivers (full licence less than 2 years) face instant ban and have to resit their tests
  • Read the details here

A MOBILE phone crackdown caught nearly 8,000 drivers using them behind the wheel – just after it was announced that penalties for the lethal practise are to double.

Officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland issued more than 40 fines an hour during the campaign in November.

They also issued 68 court summonses, delivered hundreds of verbal warnings and identified 117 other distraction offences such as eating while driving.

Police chiefs said the results were “encouraging” and another week-long campaign was to begin from today – continuing a crackdown in Hampshire and the Thames Valley with police using an unmarked HGV.

During a five-day operation earlier this month, which aimed at stopping distracted drivers, Thames Valley police caught 137 using their phones when behind the wheel.

Road Safety Sgt Chris Appleby said: “Driving while using a mobile phone is illegal and can have devastating consequences.

“You are four times more likely to be involved in a collision while using a mobile phone or being distracted in a vehicle and your reactions are 50 per cent slower.

“My advice is to turn your phone off whilst driving, put it out of reach, and out of view. This way you won’t be tempted to look at it and become distracted – #ItsNotWorthTheRisk.”

It is illegal to use a hand-held phone while driving, with those falling foul of the rules facing penalty points and a fine.

Hands-free phone use can also be an offence

  • Using a hands-free mobile phone can result in charges being brought if the driver is considered to be distracted or driving carelessly or dangerously

Calls to prevent drivers using phones intensified with public consultation on raised penalties last year in the wake of several high-profile cases involving fatalities and research indicating that it was widespread.

In October, lorry driver Tomasz Kroker, who killed a mother and three children on the A34 near Newbury while distracted by his phone, was jailed for 10 years, shortly after a Hampshire van driver was jailed for nine for killing a cyclist near Farnham in Surrey while texting.

Previous crackdowns saw 2,690 fines issued in May 2015, 2,276 in September 2015 and 2,323 in May last year. However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said more forces – rising to a total of 36 – had been involved in the latest drive so results were not directly comparable.

Suzette Davenport, the NPCC’s lead for roads policing, said the figures “show how effective new tactics and innovative approaches can be”.

Separate offence for drivers texting

  • The Irish Government brought in a separate offence of texting while driving because of the problem with drivers using phones clamped in a holder or other keypads
  • Offenders go straight to court and face a fine up to 1,000 Euros for the first offence, doubled for a second and fine plus jail for a third

“Forces will be working to make driving distracted as socially unacceptable as drink-driving through enforcing strong deterrents and powerful messages to make people think twice about their driving habits,” she added.
“Officers will continue to use intelligence-led tactics to target police activity and resources and catch repeat offenders.”

The forthcoming  increased penalties comes alongside pressure by ministers calling for motorists who cause death while on a mobile phone to face tougher sentences.

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