All 43 police forces in England and Wales are taking part in a week of enforcement against drivers using their mobiles. This offence will now be subject to a £200 fine and six points on their licence. It follows a similar campaign in January which stopped 5,614 vehicles and detected 3,844 mobile phone offences.
National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Lead for Roads Policing, Chief Constable Suzette Davenport said: “These new penalties reflect the seriousness of the offence and will strengthen the deterrent against using a mobile phone at the wheel. We need people to understand that this is not a minor offence that they can get away with.
“Across this week officers will continue to use innovative and intelligence-led tactics to catch and penalise people who are driving while distracted by a mobile phone. However, this is an attitudinal problem that we cannot simply enforce away by putting more officers on the roads.
“This issue has to begin with personal responsibility by drivers. We know that people are more likely to report other drivers using a phone than to view themselves as guilty of it. That has to change.
“Tougher penalties are a step in the right direction, but police forces and partners are working this week to make it socially unacceptable to use a mobile phone at the wheel. It’s about more than what you might have to pay as a penalty – you could hurt or kill an innocent person on the roads by checking a text or taking a call.”
Police point to research from the RAC last year, that motorists express frustration with other drivers using mobile phones, yet almost half admit to doing it themselves. Similarly, a survey by the NPCC in January showed that 53 per cent of drivers contacted said they never use a mobile phone while driving, yet 84 per cent report frequently seeing other drivers doing so.
Background: Department for Transport – Contributory factors in reported accidents by severity, Great Britain, 2014 RAS5001: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2014.
