Mail’s campaign for a change in the law

THE Daily Mail has led the way on the campaign to end the madness of drivers risking lives by using their mobile phones behind the wheel.

On September 15 we exposed the shocking scale of illegal mobile use by motorists and launched a campaign for much tougher deterrents.

Within hours, the cause was backed by road safety groups, politicians and families of the scores of victims killed by distracted drivers.

Theresa May pledged tough action, saying that using a handheld phone while driving was ‘totally unacceptable’.

In a victory for the Mail, it was announced on September 17 that ministers are set to double the punishment for using a phone. Motorists will face a six-point penalty on their licence if they are caught using a mobile at the wheel.

The ‘two strikes’ policy would see them hit the 12-point threshold for an automatic ban after two offences instead of four. Young motorists with less than two years on the road would have their licence revoked if caught once.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said he wanted the use of mobiles at the wheel to become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving. Nazan Fennell, mother of 13-year-old Hope who was crushed by a driver on his phone, said: ‘It’s a great move forward.

‘The Daily Mail highlighted the fact that these children do matter … that we need to be behaving better when we are driving.’

The Mail campaigned for much stiffer deterrents to end what the RAC calls an ‘epidemic’ of motorists texting, calling and checking emails or social media at the wheel.

The organisation found a third of drivers had used a handheld phone to call while driving. Half had used their mobile in stationary traffic.