COMPANY car drivers could be banned from using mobile phones - both hand-held and hands-free - while driving, in the wake of a fatal accident in which a businesswoman was using a mobile. Lincoln Crown Court heard how the woman pulled out to overtake a truck at 70mph on a bend while talking to her boyfriend on the phone and was in collision with a car coming in the opposite direction, killing its driver.

This has sparked the call from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for a total ban on the use of mobile phones while driving. The society says that using hand-held or hands-free phones increases the chances of having an accident by four times and wants the practice made illegal.

But in 1997 the Government decided existing motoring laws were tough enough to handle the issue through heavy fines, driving bans and the possibility of prison terms. RoSPA says this latest tragedy is the sixth case in the UK where a mobile phone has been implicated in a road death. Dave Rogers, RoSPA road safety adviser, said: 'This latest tragic case reinforces our argument that there needs to be a law which states that it is an offence to use a mobile phone while driving. Until there is, we believe there will continue to be accidents like this one because people do not realise how serious it is and believe they will get away with it.'

The businesswoman, Deborah Haynes from Grimsby - who escaped serious injury in the crash - was sentenced to a 12-month prison term and banned from driving for two and a half years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.