Ban on hands-free kit won’t work because our traffic police are overstretched, motoring experts say

Ban on hands-free kit won’t work because our traffic police are too overstretched to enforce it, motoring experts say

  • Commons transport committee want ministers to consider ban on all phone use
  • Falling numbers of traffic police mean existing laws are being flouted by drivers
  • Government urged to enforce existing laws on hand-held phones before new law
  • RAC’s Nicholas Lyes, said if hands-free banned it may be ‘harder to catch drivers’
  • Stephensons Solicitors’ Paul Loughlin questioned how a ban could be enforced

A ban on drivers making hands-free calls would be impossible to enforce, motoring groups warned yesterday.

MPs on the Commons transport committee have demanded ministers consider a ban on all phone use behind the wheel, following warnings about safety.

But falling numbers of traffic police mean existing laws banning hand-held devices are being flouted by drivers, and the Government has been urged to enforce existing legislation on hand-held phones before criminalising hands-free phone use.

MPs on the Commons transport committee have demanded ministers consider a ban on all phone use behind the wheel, following warnings about safety (stock)

The RAC’s head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes, said: ‘The Government should focus its attention on enforcing the current law. The falling number of roads police officers has clearly not helped the enforcement situation.

‘This is why we feel the time has come to look at new technology capable of photographing offenders using their hand-held phones while driving.

‘If hands-free use were to be banned then it could arguably be even harder to catch drivers in the act than it is now.’

The RAC's head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes (pictured), said: 'The Government should focus its attention on enforcing the current law. The falling number of roads police officers has clearly not helped the enforcement situation'

The RAC’s head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes (pictured), said: ‘The Government should focus its attention on enforcing the current law. The falling number of roads police officers has clearly not helped the enforcement situation’

Hand-held calls by motorists became illegal in 2003 and penalties were toughened in 2017, following the Daily Mail’s End The Mobile Madness campaign.

Ministers doubled penalties for using hand-held phones from three penalty points to six and increased fines from £100 to £200.

But the rate of enforcement has fallen by more than two-thirds in the past six years, while the number of people killed or seriously injured in accidents has risen.

In 2017, there were 773 casualties on Britain’s roads – including 43 deaths and 135 serious injuries – in crashes where a driver using a mobile was a contributory factor.

Mr Lyes added: 'If hands-free use were to be banned then it could arguably be even harder to catch drivers in the act than it is now'

Mr Lyes added: ‘If hands-free use were to be banned then it could arguably be even harder to catch drivers in the act than it is now’

The Commons transport committee says current laws give a ‘misleading impression’ that hands-free use is safe, despite researchers finding that taking a hands-free call was as dangerous as being at the legal limit for drink-driving. 

The committee heard from experts that a driver using a phone – hand-held or hands-free – was four times more likely to crash and remained distracted for up to five minutes after the call.

A mother told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme that her seven-year-old son was killed in a crash involving a driver using a hands-free phone in 2014.

Seth Dixon was hit by a car near his Cambridgeshire home and died two weeks later. 

A mother told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that her seven-year-old son was killed in a crash involving a driver using a hands-free phone in 2014 (pictured the scene in Cambridgeshire)

A mother told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme that her seven-year-old son was killed in a crash involving a driver using a hands-free phone in 2014 (pictured the scene in Cambridgeshire)

Seth Dixon (pictured) was hit by a car near his Cambridgeshire home and died two weeks later

 Seth Dixon (pictured) was hit by a car near his Cambridgeshire home and died two weeks later

His mother Alice Husband said: ‘I feel at the time the research wasn’t there for us to understand the distraction of using a phone hands-free. People need to recognise this and change the way they behave.’

Paul Loughlin, of Stephensons Solicitors, said drivers using mobiles was a ‘persistent problem’ but questioned how a ban on hands-free calls could be enforced.

He said: ‘It’s much easier to spot a driver using a hand-held device behind the wheel that it would be for a driver using a hands-free device.

Paul Loughlin (pictured), of Stephensons Solicitors, said drivers using mobiles was a 'persistent problem' but questioned how a ban on hands-free calls could be enforced

Paul Loughlin (pictured), of Stephensons Solicitors, said drivers using mobiles was a ‘persistent problem’ but questioned how a ban on hands-free calls could be enforced

‘It’s also not clear how the police would enforce this law with motorcyclists who use Bluetooth helmets, for instance.’

The report by the Commons transport committee acknowledged there were practical challenges to enforcing a hands-free ban, but insisted: ‘This does not mean that we should not do it.’

A Department for Transport spokesman said drivers must use phones responsibly, and added: ‘Being distracted by a mobile phone while driving is dangerous and puts people’s lives at risk. Anyone driving dangerously is committing a criminal offence.’

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