New phone penalties don't go far enough claim campaigners

23 February 2007

Charity urges Government to raise fines and give police power to confiscate mobiles

New legislation coming into force on 27 February 2007 means drivers will now get a £60 fine and three points on their licence if caught using a mobile phone at the wheel.

While Brake, the road safety charity, welcomes the increased penalty, it believes this 'half-hearted' attempt doesn't go far enough, and that these penalties will do little to deter drivers from using their mobile illegally while driving.

A recent survey conducted by Brake and Green Flag of more than 1,000 drivers showed that although drivers were better informed than ever about of the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving, they continued to ignore mobile phone laws and didn't believe they would be caught.

Brake is calling for even tougher penalties for those caught using a hand-held mobile phone while driving, to send the message that this can be a deadly offence. Brake recommends the fine be raised to £1,000, and police given the power to confiscate mobile phones. We also need to see the law extended to include hands-free mobile phones, which research shows are just as distracting as hand-held mobiles.*

A relatively low fine of £60 for the potentially lethal offence of using a mobile while driving could be compared to the case of a teenage girl who was fined £75 for leaving an ice lolly stick on a wall in Manchester City Centre (BBC News Online, 10 May 2006), a 'crime' which in no way posed any threat to human life.

Key findings of the survey by Brake and Green Flag:

  • Almost half of drivers (47%) admit to talking on a hand-held mobile or texting while driving
  • Six out of ten drivers (61%) thought they had a slim (10%) chance of being caught
  • Nine in ten drivers (89%) say they are more aware of the dangers of driving while using a mobile phone than they were two years ago
  • Seven in ten drivers think that a driver who kills someone while talking on a mobile phone should be punished with a jail sentence of two years or more, and one in five (21%) think they should serve more than 15 years in jail

The survey found that drivers wanted tougher punishments for people who killed while using their mobile phones at the wheel. This suggests that drivers did think that using a mobile while driving is a serious offence. The fact that drivers continue to use their mobile while driving indicates that they do not believe that the worst could happen to them.

But research highlights the real risks of using your mobile phone while driving. Using any mobile phone while driving, hand-held or hands-free, means you are four times more likely to be involved in a crash, as the main distraction is the conversation, rather than the holding of the phone.*

Better enforcement of the law is also essential. Brake is calling on the Government to take urgent action to stop the daily carnage on our roads by adding roads policing to the four National Policing Priorities, and giving officers the resources they need to use the mobile phone law effectively - and save lives.

In 2005 across Great Britain 13 deaths and more than 400 injuries resulted from crashes involving drivers using hand-held mobile phones. (Department for Transport statistics)

Case study:

Rebekka Hudd, age 11, from Pucklechurch, near Bristol, died in 1996 after she was hit by a car which mounted the pavement where she was standing. The driver, 42-year-old David Powell, was dialling out on his mobile phone at the time of the crash. He was fined £250 and given six penalty points for careless driving.

Rebekka's mother Lynda says: "No-one should use their mobile phone at any time, in any context while driving. Any phone call while driving is dangerous. It is the height of selfishness to risk people's lives for the sake of a call."

Jools Townsend, head of education at Brake, says "Driving is the most dangerous activity most of us do on a daily basis, and requires complete concentration. The crash that killed Rebekka Hudd shows the potentially devastating consequences of being distracted at the wheel. Mobile phones continue to cause deaths and injuries on our roads, and while we are glad the penalty has been increased, the new penalties do not go far enough. It is high time the Government took steps to ensure the law is properly enforced, and to extend the ban on using mobile phones while driving to reflect research which shows using a hands-free phone at the wheel can be equally deadly."

Nigel Charlesworth, spokesperson for Green Flag, commented: "It is just not worth risking anybody's life for the sake of a phone call. Although using a mobile with hands-free is not illegal, it is still distracting and we would advise all drivers to adopt an 'engine on - mobile off' policy."

ENDS

Notes to editors

*McEvoy, Stephenson, McCartt, Woodward, Hayworth, Palamara and Cercarelli, 'Role of modern phones in motor vehicle crashes resulting in hospital attendance: a case-crossover study', University of Western Australia, British Medical Journal, 20.08.05
*Burns, PC; Parkes, A; Burton, S; Smith, RK; Burch, D, How dangerous is driving with a mobile phone? Benchmarking the impairment to alcohol, TRL report 547 (TRL, 2002)

Brake

Brake is an independent national road safety charity. Brake exists to stop the nine deaths and 89 serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day and to care for families bereaved and seriously injured in road crashes. Brake produces educational road safety literature, runs community training programmes and runs events including Road Safety Week (6 - 12 November 2006). Brake's Fleet Safety Forum provides up-to-date fleet safety resources to fleet managers. BrakeCare, Brake's support division, cares for road crash victims through a helpline and other services.

Green Flag

Green Flag Motoring Assistance provides roadside rescue and recovery to over 5m customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Green Flag's incident management centre in Leeds manages around 1m breakdown incidents each year.

Media contacts

For further information contact Philippa Naylor at Green Flag on 0113 399 1387 (out of hours 07711 964 615) Public-relations@greenflag.com

For interviews with Brake, call 01484 559909 (out of hours 07976 069 159).

Survey results in full

The research was carried out by Brake volunteers across the UK among a broad range of drivers. 1,002 people were questioned.

Respondents were asked: 'Within the past year, have you driven while talking on a hand-held mobile phone, holding the phone to your ear with one hand?

  • 1% answered about once a day or more frequently
  • 4% answered several times a week
  • 5% answered about once a week
  • 5% answered about once a month
  • 22% answered only once or twice
  • 63% answered no
  • 1% did not answer

Respondents were asked: 'Within the past year, have you driven while sending or reading a text message?'

  • 1% answered once a day or more frequently
  • 4% answered several times a week
  • 6% answered once a week
  • 5% answered once a month
  • 18% answered only once or twice
  • 66% answered no
  • 1% did not answer

The two questions above were cross referenced with the following results:

  • 47% had used spoken on their mobile or texted while driving in the past year
  • 53% had not spoken on their mobile or texted while driving in the past year

Respondents were asked: 'If you decided to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving home today, what do you think the chance is that you would be caught by police?'

  • 17% think there would be no chance of being caught
  • 44% think there would be a 1-10% chance
  • 14% think there would be a 10-25% chance
  • 11% think there would be a 25-50% chance
  • 7% think there would be a 50-75% chance
  • 4% think there would be a 75-99% chance
  • 2% did not answer

Respondents were asked: 'Are you more aware of the dangers of talking on a mobile phone while driving than two years ago?'

  • 89% said yes
  • 11% said no

Respondents were asked: 'If you had to decide how the legal system should punish a driver talking on a mobile phone whose bad driving had killed someone, what penalty would you give them?'

  • 21% said more than 15 years in jail
  • 14% said 10 to 15 years in jail
  • 18% said 5 to 10 years in jail
  • 18% said 2 to 5 years in jail
  • 11% said 6 months to 2 years in jail
  • 6% said up to 6 months in jail
  • 5% said no jail term - just a fine
  • 6% did not answer

Calls may be monitored and / or recorded.