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Drivers are ignoring law on use of mobiles
Drivers are ignoring law on use of mobiles
By David Millward, Transport Correspondent
(Filed: 04/10/2006)

More drivers are using hand-held mobile phones at the wheel than when the practice was banned in December 2003, according to Government figures.

The latest statistics, from a study commissioned by the Department for Transport, show that the number of motorists flouting the law has risen by more than 50 per cent in the past 18 months.

According to the study, carried out by TRL, formerly the Transport Research Laboratory, 1.7 per cent of motorists – equivalent to more than half a million drivers – are making calls on hand-held phones while at the wheel every day.

This figure could be an underestimate, TRL admitted, because its observers were not always able to tell if a driver was using a mobile.

In all, 80,000 car drivers and a further 20,000 van and lorry drivers were monitored at 30 different sites, from motorways and city high streets to the quietest rural lanes. The study was carried out during the week and at the weekend.

It showed a steady rise in motorists using hand-held mobiles while driving from 1.1 per cent of those observed in September 2004 to 1.7 per cent in April this year.

At the same time the proportion of drivers bothering to use hands-free sets has fallen from 1.4 per cent to 0.8 per cent.

While the percentage of van drivers using hand-held mobiles fell from 2.8 per cent in September last year to 2.5 per cent in April, the proportion of lorry drivers increased from 1.6 per cent to 2.5 per cent during the same period.

The figures will cause concern within the Government, emerging a matter of days after the Department for Transport's own statistics showed that driver inattention was six times more likely to cause an accident than breaking the speed limit.

Using a handheld mobile phone has been illegal since December 2003, with motorists facing a £30 fine if caught doing so. Initially the law appeared to work as a deterrent, but the latest figures suggest that this is no longer the case.

"There seem to be two reasons for this," said Sheila Rainger, the campaigns manager for the RAC Foundation. "There are tests which show that holding a mobile does slow reaction times, but people think it is just like talking to a passenger.

"The other problem is lack of enforcement, people think they can get away with it."

Direct Line employed the services of an independent research team who observed the driving behaviour of 11,000 motorists in 10 cities across the UK over two weeks.

Widespread mobile phone usage was also spotted by the Direct Line researchers, with five per cent of motorists, regularly ignoring the law and continuing to drive whilst talking or texting on their phones.

According to the study, carried out by TRL, formerly the Transport Research Laboratory, 1.7 per cent of motorists – equivalent to more than half a million drivers – are making calls on hand-held phones while at the wheel every day.

In all, 80,000 car drivers and a further 20,000 van and lorry drivers were monitored at 30 different sites, from motorways and city high streets to the quietest rural lanes. The study was carried out during the week and at the weekend.

So the driver of the 'big shiny car' is slowing down to compensate when he's on the phone thus recognising that he may be limiting his capacity to drive at high speed and therefore acting responsibly?

That is what you were getting at isn't it?

Stephen's right, driving and 'phoning is lethal.

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Oh! And while I am in DA mode, how about drinking and driving! Figures quoted elsewhere sugest that 2% of all journeys are made by drivers over the limit 1:50! that must be getting on for somewhere between a qurter and half a Billion journeys a year! yet *only* 5% of fatalities ( http://www.metro.co.uk/home/article.htm ... _page_id=1 )!! Not very dangerous is it really!
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At least the prevalence of the drunk driver contributory factor (5% of injury crashes; 9% of fatal crashes) is greater than the prevalence of drunks in the traffic. So drunk driving is over-represented in the crash stats.

Contrast that with 'speeding' - 5% of injury crashes; 12% of fatal crashes - yet according to DfT 60% of drivers are speeding at sample sites on most road types. So speeding appears to be massively under-represented in the crash stats.

There's precious little evidence in the accident stats. For example the recent contributory factors report showed 0 in all categories.

I do think we KNOW that mobile phone CONVERSATIONS badly affect SOME drivers. But mobile phone use is very widespread and there don't seem to be anywhere near enough mobile phone crashes.

I'm not so sure, we don't how many non-injury collisions are caused by mobile use (they may be more common given the "use when going slow" syndrome). Also it is fairly easy for the use of a phone to be "covered up" in all but the most serious accidents?

possible reason that mobile phone usage is up, those lovely yellow backed boxes that do the safety job... since when has a camera triggered by speed been able to see someone crawling past at 10mph on the ophone or writing a text? swap the camera for a police car and people may actually fear getting caught and comply