Young risk lives with video calls at the wheel
THOUSANDS of young drivers are risking lives by making video calls at the wheel, the RAC has warned.
Nearly a fifth of drivers aged 17 to 24 are guilty of the lethal habit, the motoring group found.
There is greater awareness of the danger of using hand-held mobiles to make voice calls while driving.
But the growing popularity of video calling apps such as FaceTime, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp presents a ‘new, clear and present danger’ to Britain’s roads, the RAC says.
It comes after the Daily Mail’s End The Mobile Madness campaign, which has called for tougher punishments for drivers who recklessly use phones at the wheel.
Those aged 17-24 are more than twice as likely to make or receive a video call behind the wheel, the RAC’s poll of 3,000 drivers found.
Across all ages, 29 per cent of drivers admitted taking part in voice calls while driving – up six percentage points on last year – and the highest proportion since 2016.
Since March 2017, motorists caught using a handheld phone can have six penalty points put on their licence and be fined £200.
But despite this, in 2019, there were 637 casualties, including 18 deaths and 135 serious injuries, in crashes where a driver using a mobile was a contributory factor.
Ministers announced last October that police forces could begin imposing a blanket ban on holding a mobile phone while driving. It came after campaigners said using phones for streaming videos or browsing social media was just as distracting as making a call.
A third of all drivers polled (32 per cent) said mobile use concerned them, while almost four out of five (79 per cent) want to see camera technology introduced to catch drivers using their phones illegally.
Inspector Frazer Davey, from Avon and Somerset Police’s roads
END THE MOBILE MADNESS
policing unit, said: ‘Using a mobile phone while in charge of a car puts you and everyone else at risk. The consequences of allowing yourself to be distracted while you are driving can be catastrophic.’
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘Using a handheld mobile phone – especially for video calls – while driving is not just illegal, it’s selfish and puts lives at risk.
‘We’re finalising plans to strengthen the law, adding to the work of our award-winning Think! campaigns in changing drivers’ behaviour.’
PARENTS were yesterday warned to look out for sweets laced with ‘very high’ doses of cannabis that put 13 schoolgirls in hospital.
The colourful packets of ‘Medicated Nerds’ contain what look like harmless treats – but the sweets have levels of the psychoactive chemical THC that may be 50 times higher than that of a cannabis joint.
On Monday pupils aged 13 and 14 from leading Roman Catholic school La Sainte Union in Hampstead, North London, were taken to hospital. Yesterday police said they had been suffering from ‘nausea, hyperactivity, elevated heart rates and hallucinations’ – and warned teachers and parents to be on the alert.
Schools across north London were issued with a photograph of the sweets by Scotland Yard.
The cartoon- decorated Medicated Nerds packet is marked: ‘Super potent formula, 600mg THC, 60-minute activation time.’
Despite looking like a packet of children’s sweets, it adds: ‘Keep out of reach of children.’
Scientific studies suggest a 600mg dose of THC – the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis – could be about 50 times more powerful than smoking a joint, which can give 12mg of THC.
The Metropolitan Police told teachers yesterday that the 13 pupils at La Sainte Union school were expected to ‘make a full recovery but we await confirmation’, adding: ‘The dose each sweet contained was potentially very high.’
Officers said: ‘The main symptoms they presented with were nausea, hyperactivity, elevated heart rates and hallucinations.’
‘Panicking’ teachers at the school – whose former pupils include acclaimed actress Imelda Staunton and singer Tulisa – dialled 999 when pupils began vomiting after morning break on Monday.
A fleet of ambulances and doctors in patrol cars descended on the 159- year- old school, opposite Hampstead Heath, which is surrounded by townhouses worth more than £1million.
Medical staff then called in police, and officers are still investigating the incident.
Initial reports from parents suggested a Year 9 pupil was handing round ‘jelly bears’.
One family source said: ‘A bunch of Year 9s took some cannabis edibles and some passed out, and there was a lot of throwing up at lunchtime.’
Packets of Medicated Nerds are available to buy online, dispatched to the UK from the US.
But many are sold out – and the ones available for sale yesterday were just empty packets, leaving the buyer to seal up with their own ‘product’. The packets cost just 6p each on some online sites, plus postage to Britain.
Police are investigating exactly what was in the bags at La Sainte Union. The school has 1,032 pupils aged 11 to 18 and admits boys in the sixth-form. It was rated ‘good’ in a 2019 Ofsted report.
‘Nausea and hallucinations’