Call for ban on hands-free mobiles on the move
The Government should ban drivers from using hands-free phones in the wake of a lorry driver being jailed for causing a fatal crash while talking on a Bluetooth headset...
RoSPA has urged the Government to impose a blanket ban on making phone calls while driving
The renewed call came from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents following the jailing of Mervyn Richmond (49) for four-and-a-half-years after he was convicted at Lincoln Crown Court of causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard that Richmond was so engrossed in a conversation with his mother that he failed to notice traffic ahead of him had come to a standstill. He ploughed into the back of the queue, killing van passenger Michael Buston and left other people seriously injured
The use of hand-held mobile phones is already illegal, but RoSPA has now urged the Government to impose a blanket ban on making phone calls while driving, saying that the law on hand-held sets failed to address the issue. About 30 road deaths a year are calculated to be linked to mobile phone use and it is believed people talking on the phone have caused thousands of road crashes.
The spokesman said: “The conversation itself is the problem. People get more and more involved in that and pay less and less attention to the road.
“Whether you are using a handheld or a hands-free phone you are four times more likely to have a crash. Is it really worth that sort of risk just to make a phone call?”
RoSPA has consistently urged company bosses to make it a disciplinary offence for an employee to use a mobile phone while driving on business. If they don’t, and the worker has an accident then the company could face prosecution.
People should switch off their phones when they get into their vehicles and not use them again until they are parked in a safe spot – as the Highway Code advises – says RoSPA.
Richmond, of Derby, an HGV driver for 25 years, caused carnage when the crash happened on the A631 at Corringham in Lincolnshire in March last year.
Meanwhile, the number of drivers caught using mobile phones at the wheel has increased by nearly a third, according to Ministry of Justice figures.
Police in England and Wales issued 164,900 fixed penalty notices in 2006 – up 38,100 on the previous year. Using a handheld phone while driving became illegal in 2003 with the offence now subject to a £60 fine and three penalty points.
Additionally, more than 2,000 drivers were fined up to a maximum of £1,000 (£2,500 in the case of bus/coach or good vehicle drivers) by magistrates for mobile phone use, and one was prosecuted in crown court.
The offence of using a phone at the wheel also contributed to an ongoing rise in the number of careless driving offences, which has risen from 86,400 in 2003 to 233,600 in 2006.
And insurance premiums for drivers caught using a hand-held mobile phone while driving will rise or cover could even be refused, according to new data from the AA. It calculates that motorists could collectively be forking out an additional £5.4 million each year in insurance premiums – with some insurers increasing premiums by 18.1% because of the higher risk.
In a survey of eight insurers, AA Insurance found one insurer refused to quote for a single mobile telephone offence. All other companies increased the premium from 4.2% to 18.1%.
The research also revealed that in real terms the average insurance premium rose by almost £40 a year – and well over £100 over the three-year offence period.
The survey also found that half of the insurers refused to quote for careless driving offenders whilst others imposed premium increases of up to 50.5%.
Simon Douglas, director of AA insurance, said: “Many offenders are not aware of the premium rise and we hope that raising awareness of this extra cost will help people to think twice about chatting on a handheld phone when driving.”