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news
Texting while driving (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 licence by Paul Oka:Flickr)Number of drivers fined for using mobile phone plummets
The RAC says that a sharp fall in the number of drivers fined for illegally using handheld mobile phones at the wheel plummeted reflects police resources being stretched to breaking point and law-breaking drivers believing they won’t be caught.
According to Home Office data published this week, some 16,861 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were issued by police forces in England and Wales last year to motorists guilty of the offence.
That’s barely a tenth of the 166,800 handed out for the offence in 2006 – before use of smartphones and social media sites took off.
It’s also a 12.9 per cent drop on the 29,749 FPNs issued in 2014, following a decade in which the number of fines for the offence have been steadily falling year-on-year.
FPNs issued for a number of other motoring offences have also declined significantly during the period, particularly since then secretary of state for transport Philip Hammond declared an end to the so-called ‘War on the Motorist’ in 2010.
Coupled with police funding being slashed as a result of austerity measures introduced under former chancellor George Osborne, that has led to police forces across the country being under-resourced, with roads policing one of the areas to suffer.
The force that issued the most fines last year for the offence was the Metropolitan Police, with 6,416 FPNs issued to motorists who had been using a handheld phone at the wheel. Thames Valley Police, with 1,314, was the only other force to make it into four figures.
At the other end of the scale, officers in Durham fined only 46 offenders and their colleagues in Cleveland issued the lowest number of FPNs of all – just 26, or one a fortnight.
RAC road safety spokesman, Pete Williams, said that the figures showed that the number of FPNs issued for illegal handheld phone use “has fallen off a cliff.”
He went on: “The figures lay bare the scale of the handheld mobile phone epidemic that has been allowed to sweep across the country largely unchallenged.
“The simple truth is the problem of illegal handheld phone use at the wheel is undeniably getting worse, with fewer and fewer people being caught.
“Attitudes are clearly relaxing as a result of drivers no longer fearing punishment,” he said.
According to RAC research published last month, there has been a rise in the numbers of drivers who view using a handheld mobile phone to make a voice call or check social media.
> One in three admit to driving with handheld phone
Last month it was revelaed that from next year, fines for illegal mobile phone use would double to £200 and penalty points for the offence from three to six, the RAC believes this won’t address the problem.
“We fear this alone will not be enough to bring about a change in the attitude of those motorists who continue to believe it is acceptable to use a handheld phone while driving,” explained Williams.
“Law-abiding motorists who regularly see others using a handheld phone at the wheel, putting lives at risk, want to know that the law is being enforced.
“With a 27 per cent decline in full-time roads policing officers since 2010 and little chance of an increase in numbers in the near future, we need to see all police forces giving greater priority to the enforcement of this offence.
“And better enforcement needs to be backed up by more driver education about the true dangers of handheld mobile phone use, and a heavyweight road safety campaign akin to that which has been successful in making drink-driving socially unacceptable,” he added.
When the increased fines were announced last month, Jayne Willetts from the Police Federation of England and Wales, commented: "Unfortunately, with fewer officers out on the roads, more of these offences are going undetected."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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32 comments
What the article doesn't tell you is how many people are sent on courses run by the police instead of being prosecuted. Also ask via foi request how much money the police received from these courses as they get zero from a fine.
now you start to get to the real truth, it's not all about staffing levels
and local authorities and the AA etc etc. Despite what you may believe the Police dont get any of the money it costs as the fees are paid to the central ticket offices which are Govt run. However dont let the truth get in the way eh ?
I have maintained for quite a while now that if police wanted to clamp down on speeding and other motoring offences in urban areas then all they would need to do is equip cyclists with configured cameras and boom!
You can catch those using 'phones, those without the correct lighting, those without insurance, those without tax, those without MOTs, those speeding, those passing too close.
And with the equipment being provided by the Police it should stop the issues of it being "unreliable". You could also argue that, as the cyclist themselves are being monitored too they would be less likely to engage in all that "constant" red light jumping that they are accused of.
29749 to 16861 is not a 12.9% drop. It's quite clearly nearer 50%.
Is elementary mathematics too hard for journalists?
Just look at Richmond Police's response on twitter to a Range Rover almost taking out a child to see their lack motivation to take action. Effectively saying we need a report in writing as that way we can shred or lose it.
I don't understand why I'm not allowed to check my phone while I'm stationery at a red light, it doesn't make sense to me.
Perhaps I've missed the sarcasm, or maybe not.
It's illegal while you're in control of a vehicle. You might have to move; or there may be someone crossing on foot, who needs to make eye contact with you, to make sure you've seen them.
Then, we all know what happens next, because we've seen it a million times, and because smart phones are addictive. It goes from 'just' using it while stationary, to using it in stop-start traffic, then while cruising along a straight empty road, or just quickly on a dual carriageway.
The only sensible policy is to put your phone away, and don't use it when you're driving, at all.
Those things. But also legislative drafting. It makes no sense to factor in vague or specific exceptions which merely fudge the law.
Your right of course, there are many laws which have vague and ridiculous sections - for instance, you hit a pheasant on the road, its illegal to stop and pick it up but the driver behind can !!!
The amount of cops on the roads is the reason why tickets have fallen. The area i work in covers 82 sq km's and has a population of roughly 86k - last night we had 6 cops to cover, with the best will in the world that isnt enough.
[blockquote]With a 27 per cent decline in full-time roads policing officers since 2010 [/blockquote]
This is after massive increases in the numbers of police. And many crimes have dropped dramatically over the last few years. Police seem to be able to find the time to pester cyclists regularly, but they don't want to give the majority of police the powers they need to actually be able to deal with vehicular crimes.
This isn't about having the resources, this is about not wanting to deal with an issue.
I'm sorry, but you clearly have no idea of what you are talking about! No idea at all.
I suggest you do a freedom of information request to your local force and ask exactly how many officers there are policing the roads - dedicated traffic officers. And I suggest that at the same time you ask for the figures of cyclists dealt with for offences compared with drivers. You might learn something!
After a recent bump, decided to get a dash cam . Whilst this is being delivered I had made magnetic bright yellow dash cam warning sign. As a trial I went for a little drive with the warning sign fitted. What a revelation, drivers fly up behind me, see the sign and immediately back away to give a safer braking zone, whic in turn gives them a wider field of view of the road ahead. It's quite noticeable once you see them processing the sign in their mind, a tenner well spent imho.
Once my camera comes. I will send in videos of poor driving and phone use to the police.
Many people are keen to send in footage to help prosecute offenders.
However, even if (can be a big if given the standard of beyond reasonable doubt) the footage and evidence is good enough to prosecute it does not end there.
The offender has the option not to pay the penalty but have the matter heard at court.
If that happens and you have supplied the evidence, you would more than likely be asked to attend court to give evidence.
When this is explained to people and the fact they will have to take time off work, people are not, understandably, as keen to continue.
Without the key witness it is unlikely the CPS would take such a matter to court.
I don't understand why I'm not allowed to check my phone while I'm stationery at a red light, it doesn't make sense to me. Today I was sat at a red light with my eyes closed and my head facing up to the heavens trying to calm down after a streesul work call and the cop behind me gave me a friendly beep to tell me the light had turned green. I just don't quite see the logic.
If you think you've got enough time to be diverting attention away from driving, then you should have enough time to turn your engine off and then check your phone. Once you're done checking your phone, just put it away and start your engine up again - simple.
Alternatively, you could keep your engine running and be prepared to react to pedestrians/cyclists/drivers doing something unexpected or indeed the lights going green. I'd imagine other drivers wouldn't be best pleased if there's 4 or 5 people ahead of them at the lights who are paying attention to their phone instead of actually watching the road and thus not even noticing the one thing (lights turning green) that they've been waiting for.
Also, if you're stationery at a red light, does that mean you have write of way?
There are alredy plenty of good reasons stated in other responses here why you shouldn't check your phone whilst stopped at a red light....
PLUS - if you felt the need to sit at a red light "eyes closed and my head facing up to the heavens trying to calm down after a streesul work call" then you clearly were not fit to be driving until after you had calmed down. Needing the friendly beep from the cop behind just confirms that.
Sometimes I really do despair at the lack of thought and understanding so many people demonstrate when driving or discussing driving.
Hang on - so the cop behind you had to break the law through inappropriate use of their horn, because you weren't paying attention to the road, and you're fine with that?
right then, i'm going to save my footage and send it on to cardiff police - so many examples of appalling driving - this evening's commute - taxi running a red light and a taxi cutting up a cyclist to turn left - not too dissimilar to the London taxi issue reported on this website
If police are understaffed then let the public do the work by rewarding successful footage of drivers using their phones at the wheel. Double the fine and give part of it to the pedestrian or cyclist who caught the offender.
Witch May likes to portray herself as a tough woman. When will she be getting tough on drivers who flaunt the law?
Erm - "never"?
Flaunting the law would be great, at least they would be demonstrating the law by showing it off in a public display. It's drivers who flout the law who are dangerous showing complete disgregard and even mocking it!
As someone who works for a large northern police force, trust me when I say the number of traffic cars on the road has gone from lots, pre- financial crash, to virtually none at all. The roads are genuinely getting anarchic. Years ago, when the evenings started getting dark, you'd have a few days while everyone got their broken headlights fixed and then it would be fine. Nowadays nobody gives a fuck because there is no road enforcement and you see faulty car lights all winter through. We are literally sliding our way to becoming a second world country, at best
.
It's almost non existent here in rural Ireland (policing).
We have part time police/garda stations..the closest to me is open 2 evenings/week.
I constantly moan about the 'cyclops vehicles' here - "c'mon Ireland let's chip in and buy another headlamp" - sort of thing.
The amount of vehicle users constantly on phones here is ridiculous...nobody gives a fudge...
but then again the Gardai turn a totally blind eye to 'L' plated drivers with no licensed drivers with them in the car.
Co. Kildare Gardai are actually doing a clamp down on the L plate issue this weekend.
I had a 'set to' with an acquaintance regarding the L plates - sure, how are people meant to get from A to B - he said...I replied...get a full license...
On the other hand there are some ridiculous insurance issues here...17 year old just passed his test and has had quotes ranging from €8k to €11k for a 10 year old Micra/1l car
Is it a small Garda station on a long lonely road, where the first question asked is always "Is it about a bicycle?"
this is clearly a lack of enforcement issue - do the police need our help? the other day i was wasting time reviewing some footage from my camera on one of my commuting rides. I noticed that when stood at some traffic lights, with a stream of cars driving across in front of me, pretty much 1 in 3 drivers were on the phone or texting - wtf? i had licence plates and clear evidence. the thing that really p'd me off, was that half the fckers were in modern and expensive cars that would have bluetooth connections to the car audio - so clearly not only ignorant and inconsiderate, but also blindingly stupid or lazy. I would be happy to upload my footage every day/week if action were to be taken against these awful people...
is it time we became proactive?
Yes Yes!
Probably too late now, but in future check the local police force site on how to contact, then send it in. North Wales police now has quite a slick service in place for sending off footage. Yes you have to fill in forms, yes you have to be prepared to go to court if they plead not guilty, but yes, North Wales police will act on clear footage, trust me, they do.
Don't just film it and moan about them, make a stand, no point otherwise.
It's a shame that Avon and Somerset police don't have the same attitude. They're useless.
The government's plan to double the fine is merely a sop to the people who demand action. Without enforcement, and a much increased chance of being caught, it will have absolutely no effect. Typical of this government really, say one thing and pretend to support it, while doing absolutely nothing practical: see "cycling revolution."
Not convinced; first time in the car today since Monday and saw lorry coming the other way drifting towards the white line. Driver was texting.
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