Insight: Crackdown promised on drivers who flout law

The Government has vowed to crackdown on drivers that flout the law by handing out stiffer penalties to motorists who speed or use a mobile phone while driving.

It is already creating a new drug driving offence, with a consultation on which drugs will be included due to be launched in the summer.

But Patrick McLoughlin, the Government’s transport secretary, will also make careless driving a fixed penalty notice offence worth three points and a possible £90.

Fines will also increase 50% from £60 to £90 for using a hand-held phone while driving.

He told guests at a breakfast meeting organised by The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) that: “Through these measures, we want to send a clear message to dangerous drivers: if you continue to show complete disregard for the safety of other road users, we will catch you and we will punish you.”

However, McLoughlin’s tough rhetoric comes in the wake of criticism of the Government’s road safety record (see below).

Meanwhile an American study suggests that using the latest hands-free mobile phone technology could be putting lives at risk.

The study, conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, revealed that using dictation instead of typing to send a text message – so called voice-to-text technology – is just as dangerous as manually texting.

It showed that driver response times were significantly delayed no matter which texting method was used. In each case, drivers took about twice as long to react as they did when they weren’t texting.

The amount of time that drivers spent looking at the road ahead was also significantly less when they were texting, no matter which method was used.

Drivers said they felt safer when using a voice-to-text application than when texting manually, even though driving performance suffered equally with both methods.

Roz Cumming, professional engagement manager at road safety charity Brake, said: “Worryingly, people using technology like this, including hands-free for voice calls while driving, think they are safe.

“Brake urges all drivers to switch off their mobile phone and put it out of reach while driving.”

Almost a third (31%) of UK motorists have spoken on the phone while driving without using a hands-free kit, while 30% admitted that they have read a text message while driving, according to research from Gocompare.com.

Almost half (48%) of 25-34 year olds admitted they had read and sent texts while driving, with 54% saying they had spoken on their phone in the car without using a hands-free kit.

In addition, nearly one in three (32%) said that they had checked emails as they drove, with one in  five (22%) confessing to having written emails while driving.

Many will argue that tougher enforcement is needed, but figures show that more than a million drivers have been convicted of using a hand-held mobile phone behind the wheel since it became illegal in 2003.

Philip Somarakis, head of the motoring offences team at Davenport Lyons and company secretary of ACFO, told Fleet News that being distracted while trying to read or edit a text message would be “looked at dimly by the police”.

“Some employers will not provide hands-free kits because they accept that requiring the driver to do anything other than concentrate on the road ahead may compromise road safety,” he said.

However, he recognises there is a potential anomaly of voice activated technology already being prevalent in some vehicles.

He said: “The counter argument is what is the difference between ‘phone home’ as a voice command on your hands-free kit and a text message to your partner which says ‘home in 10’?

“However, drivers are bound to want to read what they have dictated before sending and that takes vision away from the road.”

Road safety record criticised

MPs have criticised the Government’s road safety record despite provisional figures suggesting a fall in casualties in 2012.

Figures for 2011 – the last full-year results have been published – reveal there were 203,950 reported casualties on the UK’s roads.

Estimates suggest that one in three people injured were driving for work, which means 186 people are injured while driving for work every day.

Louise Ellman, chairman of the Transport Committee, said: “What is notable about the statistics is that 2011 saw the first annual rise in the number of people killed in road accidents since 2003.

“Those figures should be a wake-up call for the Government to provide stronger leadership in road safety.”

In 2011, the number of fatalities increased by 3% to 1,901, while fatalities increased for car occupants by 6% to 883 and for pedestrians by 12% to 453.

“The number of people who were killed or seriously injured also increased during this period by 2% to 25,023,” added Ellman.

However, road safety minister Stephen Hammond expects the figures to show a fall in 2012, with data already indicating that in the 12 months to September, 2012, there had been a 7% decrease in the number of people killed compared to the previous year. At 1,770 deaths, it is the lowest 12-month period on record.

The Government has also been criticised for scrapping year-on-year casualty reduction targets when it published the strategic framework for road safety in May, 2011.

However, Hammond said: “It’s about the actions we take and the outcomes we achieve that we will be judged.”