Drivers finally get message about using phone at wheel

A CRACKDOWN on drivers using mobile phones has cut the number of offences by half.

Around 39,000 fixed penalty notices were issued between March and December last year, compared with 74,000 during the same period in 2016, according to police data.

The 47 per cent decline is due to a combination of harsher punishments, road safety campaigns and a lack of enforcement due to reductions in traffic officer numbers, according to the AA.

Since March 1 last year, motorists caught using a hand-held phone have faced receiving six points on their licence and a £200 fine – up from the previous penalty of three points and £100.

Drivers can lose their licence if they receive 12 points within three years, or six points in the first two years after passing their test.

The figures were obtained by the breakdown rescue firm after it submitted Freedom of Information requests to all of the UK’S 45 police forces. It received responses from 41.

March saw the most penalties issued for mobile use in 2017, with more than 8,500 drivers caught. The lowest total was 1,400 in December, as police focused their efforts on drink-drivers.

Edmund King, the AA president, said: “While some have got the message and changed their behaviour, many drivers still believe they won’t get caught.”

Separate RAC research found that nearly one in five (19 per cent) firms surveyed say their employees have been involved in an accident after using a phone illegally while driving for work.

Department for Transport figures show 780 people were injured in accidents in 2016 when a driver was distracted by their phone.