RAC road safety spokesperson Pete Williams said: “It’s clearly
good news these figures show improved compliance with the law in
England and Wales, but worrying they were far higher in Scotland.
It is also important to recognise the vast majority of these
surveys were carried out months after the penalty for using a
handheld mobile phone at the wheel was increased. It stands to
reason the ‘fear factor’ of the tougher penalties would be
greater in the time immediately after they were introduced.
“Anecdotally, we still see too many drivers either talking on
their handheld phones or interacting with them. And perhaps more
worryingly, our own research with drivers suggests the problem
has far from gone away. As a result we suspect many drivers will
be very sceptical of these findings as they don’t reflect what
they see on a daily basis.
“As this survey is only carried out every two years we also fear
many drivers who might have changed their ways initially due to
the increased penalty may have fallen back into their old ways.
This isn’t helped by the decline in the number of roads police
officers as some drivers aren’t as afraid of being caught
breaking motoring laws as they once were.
“It’s also important to remember just how tricky it can be to
detect someone using a phone illegally. While some will blatantly
drive and hold their phone to their ear, others will be a lot
more covert or will only use a handheld phone very briefly –
activities which are still dangerous and against the law.”
