Ban hands-free calls in the car, demand MPs

DRIVERS should be banned from all phone use behind the wheel – including hands-free calls, MPs declare today.

Using technology such as car speakerphones or bluetooth headsets can create the same crash risks as holding a phone, they warn.

The Commons transport committee warns that existing laws give the ‘misleading impression’ that hands-free use is safe.

Instead, MPs demand that ministers look at extending the current legislation, which only bans use of hand-held phones while driving. They also want the Government to consider increasing punishments for drivers using mobiles, as well as recruiting more traffic officers or using roadside cameras to catch offenders.

The MPs acknowledge that there would be practical challenges to criminalising hands-free phone use and enforcing the offence, but insisted ‘this does not mean that we should not do it’.

The proposal, which will be examined by Westminster’s Department for Transport, is likely to be welcomed by road safety groups, particularly as figures suggest the number of crashes involving mobiles is rising.

However, motoring groups have questioned how banning the use of hands-free technology would affect delivery drivers, who often rely on it, as well as taxi drivers.

During the select committee’s inquiry, Nicholas Lyes, the RAC’s head of roads policy, said: ‘How would companies interact with their staff, particularly if they were doing deliveries, or if they were taxi companies? How would you necessarily enforce it without the technology that could pick up the call that was taking place?’

In 2016, the Daily Mail launched its End The Mobile Madness campaign following a series of deaths caused by reckless drivers who were talking on the phone or texting.

The campaign demanded stiffer punishments for drivers caught using a hand-held mobile at the wheel.

The following year, in March 2017, ministers doubled the punishment for using hand-held mobile phones while driving from three penalty points to six – and increased fines from £100 to £200. However, figures show the number of people dying in crashes that involve a driver using a mobile phone has continued to rise.

In 2017, there were 43 deaths and 135 serious injuries in collisions in which phone use was a contributory factor.

In their report today, the MPs from the transport committee urge the Government to consider whether penalties should be increased further. They also warn that for the law to be effective there must be a credible threat of being caught.

The number of drivers who received a Fixed Penalty Notice, were sent on an awareness course or faced court action fell by more than two-thirds in the six years from 2011. Some experts have blamed this decline on cuts to the number of traffic officers.

Labour MP Lilian Greenwood, chairman of the committee, said: ‘If mobile phone use while driving is to become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving, much more effort needs to go into educating drivers.

‘Offenders also need to know there is a credible risk of being caught, and that there are serious consequences for being caught.

‘There is also a misleading impression that hands-free use is safe. Any use of a phone distracts from a driver’s ability to pay full attention.’

The committee heard from experts that a driver using a phone – hand-held or handsfree – is four times more likely to crash.

Dr Gemma Briggs, a senior lecturer in psychology at the Open University, told the MPs that even for around five minutes after a driver has ended an in-car phone conversation, they are still at a significantly increased risk of a crash because they remain distracted.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has said drivers who use a mobile phone, even via a hands-free system, fail to see road signs, and are more likely to ‘tailgate’ the vehicle in front and take longer to brake.

‘As socially unacceptable as drink-driving’

USING your mobile phone hands-free while driving is as dangerous as holding it and should be banned, the Commons transport committee says. This will be especially unwelcome to those who drive for a living.

But experts say a driver using a mobile – hand-held or hands-free – is four times more likely to be involved in a collision. In fact, drivers perform below par even five minutes after a conversation ends.

Using hands-free is currently permissible, but if it causes you to lose control it can be a factor in a prosecution. The question now is: Should we go further?

There were 43 deaths and 135 serious injuries caused by collisions involving mobiles in 2017 – and accidents involving the devices are on the rise. We also know numbers of traffic police have fallen, making it less likely that offenders will be caught – and prosecutions have plunged.

In one of its most successful campaigns, the Mail won tougher penalties for drivers caught tapping away at the wheel. Before extending the law we need to clamp down on offenders risking lives by holding devices. An toothless law is no law at all. LABOUR uses the Glorious Twelfth to attack grouse shooting, claiming it harms wildlife and adds to global warming. This has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with class war.

Owners of grouse moors are among some of the most dedicated conservationists in the country, preserving endangered species and providing jobs and investment.

This ‘row’ has been manufactured by a Marxist wolf in environmentalist sheep’s clothing – a transparent ploy that should be blasted with both barrels.