New penalties for using a mobile phone whilst driving come into effect today. Motorists have been warned of this effect and are urged to take the responsibilty seriously because the police are certainly ready to enforce the change.
There is no doubt that the change will not rule out deaths caused by drivers not concentrating due to their mobiles, but the change is a step in the right direction to reducing road death figures. The increase in penalty is also expected to reduce the number of people receiving fines, because of the significant cost implications. Fixed-penalty fines are being increased from £30 to £60 and now there is also the risk of three points on their license. If a case goes to court, the fine can rise upto £1,000 or £2,500 and in extreme cases it could even result in driving disqualifications.
"It's important to remember that 77,000 people have already been fined for driving whilst using their mobile phones," reported Meredydd Hughes, the chief constable of South Yorkshire police, "a figure that highlights this offence is policed robustly." The AA have also expressed concern over those driving daily as part of their job as being more likely to be breaking the mobile phone law. This is partly due to recent surveys showing that lorry and van drivers are twice as likely to break the law than regular car drivers. The department for Transport have realeased a figure saying that 21% of drivers have admitted to breaking the previous law introduced December 2003.