END THE MOBILE MADNESS
These young women were killed by drivers on their mobiles. Today, as it emerges HALF of motorists use phones at the wheel, we say...
The shocking scale of illegal mobile use by drivers is revealed today.
Calling, texting or checking social media on handheld phones has reached ‘epidemic proportions’, according to a major RAC study.
Half of drivers confessed to using one while in stationary traffic.
One third have used a handheld phone to make a call while driving.
A fifth admitted texting or emailing while on the move.
Today the Daily Mail launches a campaign for much tougher deterrents to end the madness and save hundreds of lives. It is being backed by the family of Liberty Baker, who was only 14 when she was killed by a driver reading a text message.
Her father paul said he sees motorists using handheld phones every day and warned they were ‘ playing Russian roulette with people’s lives’.
More than 200 Britons have been killed in the past ten years by drivers distracted by their phones.
In minor cases offenders typically escape with just three penalty points and a £100 fine. They can even get away with going on a course.
A Government consultation has called for stiffer sanctions – but only by one extra penalty point and a slightly higher fine of £150.
‘Three or four points is meaningless, nothing,’ said Darrell Martin, whose brother Lee was hit by a van driver with eight previous convictions for using a handheld phone when behind the wheel.
‘My brother was killed because a bloke was writing a text about taking
a dog for a walk.’ The study by the RAC found that:
48 per cent of drivers admitted using handhelds while in stationary traffic;
31 per cent had used one to make a call while driving;
19 per cent had sent a text, email or posted on social media such as Facebook or Twitter while moving, rising to 37 per cent in stationary traffic;
22 per cent had taken a photograph or video while in stationary traffic, and 14 per cent had done so in moving traffic;
41 per cent of drivers claimed mobile phone use by other road users was their biggest safety concern.
In the past decade at least 205 people have been killed in Britain in crashes involving drivers using handheld phones. In 2014, 492 accidents were blamed on phone use, with 21 people killed and 84 suffering serious injuries.
Pete Williams, RAC road safety spokesman, said: ‘There is clear evidence that illegal use of handheld phones by drivers to talk, text, tweet, post, browse online and even video call is on the increase.
‘This is due to the combination of our constantly growing addiction to ever more sophisticated smartphones, coupled with there being little or no fear of being caught in the act.
‘Illegal driving behaviour is now at epidemic proportions.’
The RAC study found almost a quarter of drivers blamed an emergency for their mobile phone use; one in five said they were checking for information about their journey.
But 12 per cent admitted they were simply in the habit of using their phones. Eight per cent said ‘everyone else does it’ and 7 per cent said ‘they knew they could get away with it’.
The admissions came despite high-profile scientific research that has found reaction times slow by up to a third in drivers who are talking on phones, and by even more if they are texting.
Motorists are so distracted by calls and messages that they drive as dangerously as those who are over the legal alcohol limit, according to repeated scientific studies.
Grieving families have called for much tougher punishments to crackdown on the menace – and warn that deterrents are being ignored.
The road safety charity Brake has called for fines to be increased to a minimum of £500 and for offenders to receive six points on their licence, meaning they could be banned from driving if they are caught twice.
The RAC wants tougher penalties, more traffic police to enforce the law, and an awareness campaign to make the offence as socially unacceptable as drink-driving, which carries an automatic ban and up to six months in jail.
The RAC study spoke to more than 1,700 motorists and its experts warned that the new era of augmented reality smartphone games such as Pokemon Go was likely to increase mobile use on the roads.
Labour MP Graham Stringer, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said: ‘Using a mobile phone or texting while driving is as dangerous as drink-driving.
‘The Government consultation paper doesn’t go far enough, the fines and penalties should be more severe because the consequences can be so dangerous.’
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has also called for the three-point penalty to be doubled.
Lee Martin, 48, a married father of two, died when he was hit by van driver Christopher Gard, who was texting. Police estimated Gard would have had nine seconds of ‘clear road’ to see and avoid Mr Martin’s bicycle if he had not been staring at a mobile phone screen.
He had been caught eight times before but had avoided losing his licence after telling magistrates he would be unable to work and his young son would suffer.
He was jailed for nine years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
Darrell Martin said: ‘People need to think twice before they pick up their phone.
‘They need to think “Am I going to lose my licence?” That’s why the punishment needs to be six or nine points, or maybe a ban.
‘The law hasn’t caught up with the reality. Just like drinkdriving years ago, there needs to be a massive campaign to make it a social taboo.
‘Punishment needs to be at the beginning, for anyone caught using their phone, not waiting until they kill someone.’