Lorry driver caught using TWO phones at the wheel!
WITH one mobile in his left hand and another in his right as he texts, this driver is reduced to using his forearm to steer his massive truck on one of the country’s busiest stretches of motorway.
He was driving a vehicle transporter loaded with eight cars when police secretly filmed him from a specially adapted ‘ghost truck’ as part of a 16-month crackdown on dangerous drivers.
The operation caught another truck driver boiling a kettle on his dashboard, while others were found reading books and watching DVDs behind the wheel.
One driver filmed using his mobile told officers he had needed to call his new girlfriend after ‘their song’ came on the radio. The unnamed trucker caught using two phones at the wheel escaped with just a £100 fine and three points on his licence – the current punishment for a single mobile phone offence.
But after a campaign by the Daily Mail, ministers have suggested that much tougher penalties for these offences are to be introduced soon.
Sources say drivers could face an automatic six-point penalty on their licence for using a mobile illegally, meaning two offences would lead to the 12-point threshold for a ban.
On-the-spot fines for using a phone while driving are also set to rise from £100 to £200 under the reforms.
The driver using two phones on the M6 near Knutsford in September last year was stopped by Cheshire Police officers using an undercover HGV on loan from Highways England. The cab of the £70,000 truck, which has a higher driving position, has been used by forces around the country to film evidence of offences before officers following behind pull over the drivers and hand out fixed penalties.
Since the scheme began in April last year, 3,494 dangerous driving offences have been recorded, involving 2,700 drivers. Nearly half related to mobile phones.
Steve Gooding, of the RAC Foundation, said: ‘Our research shows using a mobile to text at the wheel slows reaction times more than being at the legal drink-drive limit. We didn’t even consider investigating what would happen if a driver uses two mobiles.
‘In 2015 the use of a mobile was a factor in at least 22 fatal accidents.’
Tory MP Will Quince, a member of the Commons transport committee, called for tougher penalties for HGV drivers caught using mobiles.
‘We all know the devastation these vehicles can cause when they are involved in a serious crash,’ he said.
‘These drivers should be most aware of the dangers of being distracted at the wheel. Given the size of the vehicles and the fact they are trained to a much higher standard than normal drivers, there is an argument for introducing tougher penalties for HGV drivers.’
But Labour MP Rob Flello said tougher penalties would be ineffective unless there were more police on the road to catch dangerous drivers.
He added: ‘People think they can get away with dangerous driving because the chances of getting caught using their phone, boiling a kettle – or other mind boggling behaviour – are so small.’
Greg Marah, a spokesman for the road safety charity Brake, said: ‘Using a mobile phone whilst driving can be a lethal distraction.’
‘They think they can get away with it’