Commenting on the report by the Transport Select Committee on
using a mobile phone whilst driving, Edmund King, AA president
says; “As the report indicates it is crucial that we continue to
raise public awareness of the dangers of using a phone at the
wheel and change attitudes to its use as we have with drink
driving. The 2017 AA Trust ad campaign, supported by THINK!,
showed that drivers using a handheld mobile phone are twice as
likely to crash texting as they are drink-driving**. It carried
the message ‘You wouldn’t drink and drive. Don’t text and drive.”
“Reinforcing education, such as government Think! advertising on
drink drive or seatbelts, has been shown to work if the messaging
is consistent over time. Roadside checks by TRL found that, when
there was an advertising campaign or discussion over new
legislation, the observed incidence of drivers using a hand-held
mobile phone dropped.
“Enforcement is also key. Even the more stringent penalties have
had less effect than the expected on mobile phone abuse because
offenders think the chance of being caught is minimal.
“Following a reduction of specialist traffic officers by a
third***, a good deterrent would be to have more cops in cars
targeting those tempted to pick up the phone. As the Prime
Minister has promised to hire an additional 20,000 police
officers****, we hope some of these will focus on improving road
safety and catching dangerous drivers.”
** https://www.theaa.com/about-us/newsroom/twice-as-likely-to-crash-text-driving-as-drink-driving
*** Page 7 - https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmtrans/518/518.pdf
**** https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-opens-first-meeting-of-national-policing-board
