Fewer fines for drivers on mobiles

FEWER drivers were fined for using mobile phones at the wheel last year – but deaths caused by the offence rose by half in the same period.

Some 79,900 ‘Fixed Penalty Notices’ were handed out in 016 – a drop of 7.5 per cent from 86,400 the year before, according to Home Office figures published yesterday. In 011, there were 16 ,400 such fines.

Motoring group the AA suggested the fall in fines for drivers using phones reflects a decline in traffic police rather than a drop in actual offences. Some 35 deaths were recorded as having been caused by distracted drivers using mobiles last year, up from the year before, the latest Department for Transport figures show. Edmund King, president of the AA, said: ‘We know there has been a big decline in dedicated traffic police over the last decade and these figures seem to reflect this.’

The Home Office figures also showed a fall in the number of fines issued for other offences such as not using a seatbelt. There were 463,319 breath tests carried out by police last year, down from 5 0, 19 the year before.