Speed Cameras Now To Be Used To Catch Drivers On The Phone

Thursday, 6. May 2010

Mobile phone users who still use their phones whilst driving without a hands free kit are back in the news as conviction figures show another fall. Recently published figures show that convictions in England and Wales were down to 116,000 in 2008/9, down by 5% on the previous year, which in turn was down on the 167,000 convictions in 2006/7 even though the use of a mobile phone whilst driving was introduced as an endorsable offence in February 2007. Most people, whether they are drivers or pedestrians, would confirm that there are more drivers flouting this law than ever before confirmed by a Department for Transport survey carried out earlier this year that confirmed that there had been a 27% rise in illegal phone use between 2008 and 2009 and yet convictions had dropped. This may change as local safety camera partnerships were given the go ahead to allow prosecutions for driving without a seatbelt and driving whilst using a mobile phone. The ridiculous situation here is that road safety experts are currently pushing for a total ban on the use of mobile phones when, as I pointed out when I reported it, they aren’t prosecuting those more dangerous drivers who have a phone held to their ear with one hand, steering with the other and use God knows what to change gear whilst racing around a roundabout. And if you feel complacent about using a mobile phone whilst driving a paramedic explained that nearly half of traffic incidents that he attends have been contributed to by someone on the phone. By Graham Hill