Many drivers still unaware of tougher penalties for using mobile at the wheel

TWO-FIFTHS OF drivers are unaware they face tougher punishments for using a handheld mobile phone while driving, a study published today has shown.

Some 39 per cent of motorists do not know that penalty points and fines will double to six and £200 respectively from Wednesday, according to a Co-op Insurance poll of 1,500 UK drivers conducted last week.

Drivers can be banned from Britain’s roads if they receive 12 points within three years, while new drivers can have their licence revoked if they get six points within two years of passing their test.

Stricter penalties for illegal phone use are being introduced by the Department for Transport following a series of high-profile cases and research suggesting the practice is widespread.

Co-op Insurance’s head of products, James Hillon, welcome the penalty changes but added: “However, it is very worrying that a significant proportion of drivers are unaware of the changes given how significant they are.

“Whilst it seems as though the increase in penalties may encourage better behaviour, with a quarter now less likely to phone and drive, much of the driving population believe that the increase could have gone further.”

Twenty-two people were killed and 99 seriously injured in accidents on Britain’s roads in 2015 where a motorist using a mobile was a contributory factor, latest figures show. In October, lorry driver Tomasz Kroker was jailed for 10 years after killing a woman and three children by ploughing into their stationary car on the A34 near Newbury, Berkshire, while distracted by his phone.

Motoring groups believe a sharp decline in the number of drivers caught using a handheld phone is partly due to police budget cuts affecting enforcement.

Home Office data shows just 16,900 drivers were handed fixed penalty notices for illegally using a phone in England and Wales in 2015, compared with 123,100 in 2011.