Police to crack down on mobile-using drivers this week

I'd like to see employers taking a stricter stance on this. When somebody is caught using a phone whilst driving for work it should be treated as gross misconduct (bringing the company into disrepute) and treated as such.

Everyone should film along a stretch of road and hand the footage to the police insisting they use video evidence to prosecute. Unfortunately but not unsurprising is that they won't, I believe based on the credibility or fairness of how it was obtained.

I imagine if there was a 'serious' offence being committed, one involving money such as a bank robbery, as opposed to lesser matters like motorist misdemeanours that they'd be only too happy to use my footage for evidence.

Odd how lives are indispensable whilst matters around replaceable objects are valued isn't it?

Fines and points need to be higher.

The police have no ability to prosecute someone unless they witness it happening. If you take a photo of someone driving and using their phone the police can't and won't use it.

It doesn't help when a truck driver who was using his phone when he killed a cyclist in London had no action taken against him. That pretty much states "don't worry, even if you kill someone you'll be okay".

We target drivers using their mobiles each and every day whilst out and about but i have to agree unless the fines and points increase then people (and it's mostly males) will continue to drive whilst using their phones.

At the mo its a £300 ticket for no insurance (and having your car uplifted) so why not similar for mobile use, after all it all goes to Govt coffers so they will be better off by far ?

I have to say i dont give out tickets for the offence i report everyone to go to court which generally ends up in a higher fine or points.

Simply put they know they're not going to get caught and even if they are ( a very unlikely situation), the fines are relatively small. it costs more to fill the tank up.

The first problem is because the number of traffic police has decreased year on year, it' much cheaper to catch people speeding and it makes the figures look good.

The second problem is even easier, increase the find to £1000 or the car, which ever is higher.

It won' happen of course because in government speak motorist = hardworking family man = good = untouchable

Maybe if the law allowed for the confiscation of cars for a few months of those drivers had been using a mobile whilst driving it may sharpen a few peoples ideas up.

Why just this week. Surely any offence that could cause death an injury needs concentrating on all the time.

Are English police constantly cracking down on something or is it just me? There is literally an article a week about their newest crack down

Ah, this could explain the PCSO I spotted loitering at a road junction this morning closely watching each and every car drive past.

It all helps. It's all a step in the right direction.

I am yet to go on a ride not having seen someone on the phone - or even worse - reading a kindle in slow moving traffic around town yesterday on the Finchley Road

The problem is huge and not one that can be delt with over any particular week. It needs constant pressure from the authorities along with constant media attention to make the change. Similar to how they managed to make drinking and driving socially unacceptable (A nudged mindset) back in the late eighties.

It'll take many years but I have faith it will happen.

What has this got to do with cycling? No need to fuel the cyclist-motorist hate.

£5000 fine and 12 month ban. That should do it. Its the cultural issue we have where if my phone rings, I must answer it.....no, you don't.

Texting whilst driving, you have got to be nuts.

What concerns me is usage of smartphones, quite often held under the steering wheel, so the driver has to properly divert his attention.

I've had a driver overtake playing a game on his phone - held in the centre of the steering wheel by his thumbs. I then saw him run a red light about 300 metres futher on. I *so* wish I'd been able to capture this some how.

Quote:

Police to crack down on mobile-using drivers this week

Just this week then.
Oh so that's OK. All back to normal by December.

Whatever happened to this thing called "enforcing the law". ie, doing it all the time instead of one well-publicised "crackdown"? Makes it sound all grand and pro-active whereas the actual answer to "we're having a crackdown" should be "what, doing your jobs like you're supposed to?"

(and yes, I have some sympathies with the police for being massively overstretched and under-resourced)

Good, and about time. I still think the penalties are too lenient though. I thought there'd been research that suggested talking on a handheld mobile had about the same effect on ability to drive safely as being at the drink drive limit, and texting / facebook etc about the same as being double the limit. If that's the case the penalties should be the same. It's an automatic ban for drink driving isn't it? If people started losing their licences they'd think twice about using their phones. At the moment there's too little chance of being caught and the penalty is insufficient to deter people.

There is plenty of research showing the dangers of cellphone use while driving and also showing hands-free kits provide next to no safety benefits. But since using a cellphone while driving has around the same risk levels of being over the limit for alcohol, why are the penalties not similar?

A driver caught over the limit for alcohol in the UK can expect a 12 month ban, a fine and a hefty jump in insurance costs when the suspension is completed. Being caught for using a phone while driving results in a much smaller fine and just 3 points on the licence I think (correct me if I'm wrong regarding the points Stumps).

Until the penalties for offenders are similar to those for drinking and driving, people will carry on using phones while driving. Bear in mind that being caught over the limit for alcohol while driving in Sweden could result in a 6 month prison sentence.

Texting while driving increases the risk of a crash by a factor of 28 according to research. The penalties for offenders should be made to be more appropriate.