http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/di ... 77.0.0.php
Mobile phone driving fines set to double
ROB ROBERTSON
Transport authorities are to get tougher with motorists who use their mobile phones when driving, it was revealed last night.
Fines are to double from £30 to £60 and for the first time drivers will have three points put on their licence. The increased penalties are due to come in on February 27.
The changes follow growing concern that more accidents are being caused by drivers who were distracted because they were making telephone calls. More than one-fifth of drivers admit to flaunting the law and transport leaders hope the tougher penalties will reduce that figure.
If the police or the driver chooses to take a case to court rather than use a fixed penalty notice, the maximum fine is £1000 or £2500 for drivers of vans, lorries, buses and coaches.
The same increased punishments are also being brought in for not having proper control of a vehicle - an offence which can occur when a driver has been distracted by using a hands-free mobile phone.
Transport Minister Douglas Alexander said: "Research shows that talking on a mobile phone while driving affects your concentration and ability to react to dangerous situations. It's impossible to do two things at once and do them well.
"That is why in December 2003 we introduced new laws preventing motorists from driving while using a hand-held mobile. We had a groundswell of support for this move but, worryingly, while 92% of people agree with the law, 21% of drivers admit to breaking it.
"That is why the Road Safety Act will introduce a tougher fixed penalty of three points on your licence as well as a £60 fine from February 27."
A campaign to raise awareness of the new fixed penalty begins today and will include radio, press and online activity raising awareness of both the change in penalties and the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving. This educational approach goes hand in hand with continued enforcement activity by the police who issued 74,000 fixed penalty notices for illegal use of a mobile phone while driving in 2004.
Motorists talking on mobile phones while driving are more dangerous than those who are over the legal drink-driving limit, a report issued in 2002 concluded. Tests conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire showed drivers' reaction times were on average 30% slower when talking on a hand-held mobile compared with when they had been drinking alcohol.
It took mobile users half-a-second longer to react than normal, and one-third of a second longer than when they had been drinking. They were also less able to maintain a constant speed and found it harder to keep a safe distance from the car in front.
Robin Cummins, RAC's road safety consultant, said he hoped increasing the penalties would reduce the number of people using mobile phones when driving.
"It will be up to the police to enforce it and they will be able to do so in a similar way they deal with the non-wearing of safety belts.
"They may see people on phones when they walk past on the pavement or when they are in their patrol cars and take down the number of the vehicle in question. CCTV motorway pictures may also be helpful," he said.
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign, welcomed the tougher penalties but warned: "Hands-free conversations are equally dangerous and the only advice we should be giving to drivers is don't phone and drive'."
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