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news
Driver using mobile (CC licensed image by lukys1:Flickr)New laws see hundreds of novice drivers banned for using mobiles
New tougher laws have seen hundreds of new drivers banned from the roads from using their mobile phones.
Since March, anyone using a phone at the wheel was given six points instead of the previous three - meaning that if they had been qualified for less than two years they would lost their licence.
Figures obtained by BBC Radio 5 live reveal 290 new UK drivers were disqualified in the first six months since the change.
Anyone affected by the ban must retake both the theory and practical driving tests to regain their licence.
RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams said: "These people have spent hours and hours and hundreds of pounds learning to drive to gain their personal freedom only to throw it all away through this foolish behaviour.
"The only consolation is that they now won't be involved in some horrific crash caused by the distraction of a handheld mobile phone," he added.
A total of 15,752 drivers received six penalty points for using a mobile phone between March and August.
This is an increase from 15,237 drivers in the same period in 2016.
National Police Chiefs' Council lead for roads policing, Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, said: ”This is not a minor offence and is never a risk worth taking because a moment's distraction behind the wheel can change lives forever.
"Our message is simple - don't do it.”
Just a couple of months ago we reported how up to nine million drivers could still be habitually using their phones at the wheel, despite tougher penalties, according to the RAC.
In a survey of more than 1,700 people 26% who knew about increased penalties, which were introduced in March, admitted they still use their phone while driving. Extrapolated to the general population this, the RAC warns, could mean 9m people are still driving and using a handheld phone, knowing the risks.
Of the 89% aware of changes - the equivalent of 5.7m drivers - 16% said they no longer phone and drive since the law change, while a further 11% (3.9m) say they curbed their illegal behaviour ‘a little’. Driving while using a mobile phone is thought to be more dangerous than drink driving in impairing driving ability, but with cuts to roads policing, there are simply fewer officers to catch offenders, reducing the risk of being caught.
Pete Williams, of the RAC said: “Despite the law change and some high profile police enforcement campaigns we are in a situation where overall roads policing officer numbers are down on 2016 by a massive 30% since 2007.
“It is clear we have a hard core of persistent offenders who believe they can get away with it by continuing to flout the law every day and we fear this may get worse with fewer dedicated roads policing officers.”
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This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9swS1Vl6Ok
Played in schools, in DVLA offices and test centres, in Cinemas, on Netflix, in ad breaks of Celebrity Juice, at the start of every driving lesson, at the start of every speed awareness course.
Just show that vid.
S.
Cambridgeshire has a had reuction in drivers caught- cettainly isn't because of a reduction in drivers using their phones at the wheel.
But then, and this is political, there's been huge cuts to policing since 2010. Vast numbers of admin staff (I believe up to 80% in some areas) were got rid of. But the admin work and specialised evidence review work wasn't got rid of- coppers now have to do that.
After today's drive home I have some sympathy with the youth of today using their phones while driving as it's only what they've been taught.
All the way down Manor Way, Cardiff I was driving alongside a driving instructor who was happliy texting away. So distracted that after stopping at a red light he totally didn't notice the lights change to green.
Edit. just to add, If the cops wanted to employ me I could catch more people than them on my normal ride to work. Every day I pass at least 2 in each direction so 4X~180 days.
This is, indeed, true. The standard of driving instructors is terrible.
If you want to scare yourself watch the full documentatary in this link.
The frightening thing is they appear to have no clue they are doing it.
Shocking' short film targets young adults using phone while driving
That's a pathetically small number of people caught. I could catch that many in a day if I wanted to - just cycle around known slow traffic spots in Bristol.
So, why don't the police employ some cyclists to go around taking suitably damning photos of drivers? It wouldn't take much training and the cyclists wouldn't need to confront the drivers - just a quick snap or two and then off on their way. Then send the appropriate letters to the registered car owners - just like with speeding cameras.
It's not rocket surgery.
images.duckduckgo.com_.jpeg
Too many people see mobile phone usage in the same way as they see speeding: a "victimless crime " (well, until there is a victim...).
Your idea would make perfect sense except that no police authority or government now wants to be seen to be waging a war on hard-pressed motorists (remember: nobody else counts in an economic sense).
The problem with speeding isn't black and white.
When UK motorways were built there were no speed limits, regardless someone going at 90mph* on a wide empty motorway in clear dry conditions is speeding but is unlikely to do any harm to anyone simply because there is no one else around. However if you go at 30mph outside a primary school at 3.30pm then you are speeding even though you are driving at the legal speed limit. Why? Simply because you are not driving to the conditions as children, including young ones, and their parents will be trying to cross the road and going at such as speed means you would kill or seriously injure a child who ran out.
This is one reason why in Germany some of their autobahns have no speed limits but they - the police and the population themselves - are extremely strict about driving properly at all times.
Police in the UK would be far better concentrating on middle lane hoggers, mobile phone users, tailgaters particularly HGVs, close passers, those reading,cooking or otherwise distracted etc than speeders on empty wide dual carriageways and motorways. However the latter are easier to get while the rest need more involved police work e.g. police HGV to see inside cabs to get HGV drivers cooking while driving, on police on bikes to get red light jumpers and close passers.
*Though you will get 3 points and a fine if you get caught.
Not sure I'd hold Germany's driving up as a standard - they've got worse road death stats than us.
One of the (surely obvious, even without hindsight) 'unintended' consequences of an elected police commissioner is to politicise the control of the police.
Now we have regional police bosses who don't want to jettison votes via silly things like clamping down on law-breaking by huge numbers of citizens. Only a thoroughly decent and principled turkey would vote for Christmas.
Driving back into London in the A3 tonight passed a young guy with his phone mounted on windscreen watching the cricket
Obviously still no fear of getting caught
Best I ever saw was someone reading a book while driving on the A3.
Thing is depending where you are on and what time you are on the A3 there are police around, however normally this excludes weekends unless it is one involving a bank holiday.
The safety camera after the speed limit reduces to 50 around Esher is supposed to be one of the top grossing in the country.
and yet gov allow big fuck off screens built into motors, have you seen the 10"+ screens in the latest EVs with all sorts on it incl social media/internet access!
Its worse than just "allowed" when car companies can make massively distracting technology a key selling point of their new Canyonero...
I don't really get how people can't cope without their facebooking youtubeness for the length of a journey. It reminds me of the two women I saw on the bus on Friday rolling their cigarettes and getting their lighters ready so they could re-start smoking the *moment* they stepped off...
The absolute disgrace - you should be listening to Test Match Special in a car not watching it on Sky!
Weirdly, this is one of the very few areas in which the UK is ahead of the usually more enlightened Sweden, where mobile phone use at the wheel is only illegal if it's causing you to drive erratically. A new law comes in next year to ban it.
This is such an opportunity for the Police to increase revenue and make the roads safer.
Enforce it more rigorously and only the idiots will suffer.
Completely unobvious why ANY driver isn't banned and forced to resit
De-criminalise the offence of using a mobile phone while driving, and then let a private company or some other organization enforce the rule so as to get a higher level of enforcement. You don't need a Police Officer on a mega-salary doing this type of work, they got things like murderers and rapists and people making sexist/homophobic remarks in the street to catch.
Remind me what the law is around making sexist comments please sweet cheeks...
What a stupid comment. Police are not on mega-salaries! This is a traffic offence and they are dealt with by traffic officers. Murders and rapists are dealt with by CID.
hahahhaha 290 is infintessimal compared to the actual offenders, they could the plastic plod brigade to patrol on bikes and pay for the wages and some.
The numbers are laughable.
On Friday I was waiting for a colleague outside of the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, standing next to where the road narrows from two lanes to one with a zebra crossing, which means almost constant queueing traffic. For about thirty minutes I was keeping a rough tally in my head and I would estimate around 25-30% of drivers were using their phones whilst queueing and a significant number continued to do so as they pulled away. Obviously this is compeletly unscientific but if my estimate is anywhere close (and it does seem to fit with my experience both riding and driving through traffic) then it just shows exactly how ingrained this behaviour is. Far more needs to be done.
Indeed more needs to be done; increase the possibility of being caught and increase the penatlies. Currently, the only way of increasing the first is more police, but there may be a better technological solution. The second could be immediately addressed however, by crushing the phone and the car.
Agree, my latest phone update has an automatic setting that stops notifications when it senses you're driving, of course dickheads will disable this, but it is heading in the right direction.