Martin Saarinen

Tighter laws on phone use at the wheel only effective if enforcement is credible

THOSE familiar with Game Theory will know the outcome of any ‘threat’ between two players depends on how credible the threat is. There are many real-world applications of this, including roads policing.

Take for example mobile phone use behind the wheel. Last year, the RAC found that close to a third of drivers admitted to chatting or texting when in control of their car. This equates to a massive 11 million motorists.

Shortly after, the Government announced that from 1 March this year, the fine for illegally using a mobile phone behind the wheel would double to a £200 fixed penalty notice and six points. The idea was that the threat of tougher penalties should force people to stop doing it.

Current figures from the RAC would suggest this hasn’t been fully achieved. While the share of drivers using their phone behind the wheel has dropped from 31 to 23 per cent, this still equates to over nine million motorists texting, talking and taking pictures while driving.

Worse is that while some admitted to using a phone for emergencies only, the share of drivers saying they continue to do so because they can “get away with it” rose from seven per cent to 10 per cent.

A threat only works if it’s credible, and credibility comes from enforcement. But work is needed here. The number of fines for mobile phone use at the wheel has fallen by 86 per cent in the past five years, while politicians have cut traffic police numbers by a third in the last decade.

Raising fines alone isn’t enough; they have to be enforced or they only act as an illusion of justice and safety.