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More than 500 people are estimated to be killed or seriously injured every year because car and lorry drivers were texting, responding to emails or posting messages on social networks.
Earlier this month Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that he is considering doubling the punishment for those caught texting at the wheel to six penalty points.
‘The amount of casualties has been absolutely appalling,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to change this.’
Official figures for 2012 show the use of a mobile phone at the wheel as a ‘contributory factor’ in only one fatal accident in 100.
But Professor Stephen Glaister, of the RAC Foundation, said that, from what many standing at the roadside report, this is a considerable underestimate of the true figure.
‘More systematic checking of drivers’ phone records after a crash would... send out a message that police are taking this matter seriously and people who flout the law will be caught,’ he said.
AA president Edmund King said drivers do not realise their mobile phone records provide an ‘incriminating track’ of what they were doing.
He said: ‘The current deterrent just isn’t working. Many drivers seem addicted to their phones and just can’t resist looking at a text or tweet at the wheel. We need a concerted effort to crack this addiction with harsher penalties linked to an information and enforcement campaign.’
Hugh Bladon, of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘I am 100 per cent against anyone texting while driving, and those caught deserve everything they get.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-deaths-distracted-drivers.html#ixzz38XZQrfEq
Earlier this month Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that he is considering doubling the punishment for those caught texting at the wheel to six penalty points.
‘The amount of casualties has been absolutely appalling,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to change this.’
Official figures for 2012 show the use of a mobile phone at the wheel as a ‘contributory factor’ in only one fatal accident in 100.
But Professor Stephen Glaister, of the RAC Foundation, said that, from what many standing at the roadside report, this is a considerable underestimate of the true figure.
‘More systematic checking of drivers’ phone records after a crash would... send out a message that police are taking this matter seriously and people who flout the law will be caught,’ he said.
AA president Edmund King said drivers do not realise their mobile phone records provide an ‘incriminating track’ of what they were doing.
He said: ‘The current deterrent just isn’t working. Many drivers seem addicted to their phones and just can’t resist looking at a text or tweet at the wheel. We need a concerted effort to crack this addiction with harsher penalties linked to an information and enforcement campaign.’
Hugh Bladon, of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘I am 100 per cent against anyone texting while driving, and those caught deserve everything they get.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-deaths-distracted-drivers.html#ixzz38XZQrfEq
