By Will Sturgeon, 24 November 2004 17:45
NEWS The public are in favour of steeper fines or licence suspensions for anybody caught driving while talking on a mobile phone handset, according to a poll conducted by silicon.com.
This follows the announcement of plans to double the current fine for the offence from £30 to £60.
Respondents to a silicon.com survey on the issue voted overwhelmingly for stiffer penalties with 36.7 per cent backing a bigger fine and 27.3 per cent backing a mandatory ban from driving.
Nearly three per cent of respondents even backed custodial prison sentences for those who break the law on driving with a handset to their ear while 5.3 per cent said they believe the current £30 fine is penalty enough.
silicon.com reader Andrew Lewis wrote: "Motorists using a handheld phone while driving are stupid. It is dangerous. The current fine has had little or no impact, so it needs to be raised. A hefty fine and points should hopefully bring this hazard home to some people.
Another reader, Nigel, goes one step further suggesting those who really can't go without chatting on their phone while they drive from A to B should be hit where it hurts them most.
"As well as the fine and points on the licence, the police should have the power to permanently confiscate the offending phone for crushing," he suggested.
But it's not just the drivers who have a part to play, with 14.1 per cent of respondents called for cheaper handsfree equipment from manufacturers.
A previous silicon.com poll, run in the immediate aftermath of the ban's parliamentary approval in July 2003, revealed overwhelming support for the ban. At that time respondents to the survey also backed a punishment of points on the licence and a fine of up to £250, suggesting there is still plenty of scope to increase the fine further.
Comments
There are 17 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Perhaps we could form a body that members of the public could send photos of people on the phone (to include the regn no)and they could be fined/points on licence from the evidence
2. anonymous
This is going back to the 18th century when they had the death penalty for defacing London Bridge or impersonating a chelsea pensioner. What we need is ENFORCEMENT of laws. Not just yet more legisalation and no police to enforce them. Police seem to have abandoned the roads to automated policing via speed cameras (which don't work on motorbikes)and then are surprised when the biker death rate goes up - well doh! Welcome to the world of New Labour.
3. Diane Wicks
my husband has used a hands free moby car set for a long time as he is a technical sales rep and on the move and in demand constantly. His car gets him from a to b and it is also his office. He travels hundreds of miles every day, sometimes 500 miles and HAS to have the moby but even with hands free he says it can be distracting when driving. I think hands free should be fitted in all new cars from now on by the manufacturers and then there is NO excuse whatsoever for holding a hand set. £100 fines appropriate to all who offend.
4. Paul Branston
What about smoking and driving. Just because that has been around longer does not make it less dangerous to have a lighted object in your hand whilst driving. I keep seeing people who can't steer their vehicle properly because they are holding a cigarette.
Let's have equivalent legislation. You can drop a mobile in your lap in an emergency you can't drop the cigarette in your lap with the same ease.
5. anonymous
The problem is not the level of the fine, but the fact that no one is enforcing it. I have seen people using the phone while driving past police cars and not being stopped.
6. Ken Adams
Driving in itself is dangerous, so why not have penalty points for sitting in your car? Possession of a deadly weapon? I've seen people driving like idiots without a phone to their ear, and I've seen people driving very sensibly with phones to their ear. Where does it stop? Should we make swimming illegal because some people have drowned? Technology should be designed so that unless a phone is in a harness in a vehicle it's simply won't work. Put some legal penalty points on the manufacturers and see how quickly they come up with a safe solution. They have provided potentially lethal merchandise if used irresponsibly, so they should be forced to use the huge profits they make to ensure their products are safe.
7. Neil Postlethwaite
£1,000 fine, reduced to £500 is they can demonstrate a fully fitted car kit within 2 weeks. 2nd offence, 12 months ban.
I have almost been wiped out several times by tossers on phone not paying attention whilst driving. It is worse than drink driving or animated discussions with female occupants on the 'best route' to a destination.
8. Anthony Hunt
When the fine is less than the cost of a "cheap" hands-free kit, it is no deterant.
Lean on the greedy phone companies to drop the prices and hit the stupid and dangerous minority where it hurts, their wallets! Three points on the license for the offence and a fine for their employer if it was a company phone!
9. anonymous
The answer is really obvious - just stop using your mobile when you're driving.
It seems odd to me - there's overwhelming support for a ban on mobile usage, yet still record numbers of people ignore the law (and common sense). There's a faint whiff of hypocracy about this whole issue.
It's not the law that need changing - it's attitudes. Mobile Users should be more worried about the consequences an accident caused by loss of control or concentration than the possible points on their license.
10. anonymous
Yes i agree that you should not use a mobile phone whilst driving but i think some of you are going a little to far.
Worse than drink driving, i would suggest that you think your statement Neil P. more carefully, a comment like that is bound to attract the attention of every copper in Birmingham who reads this article.
there are far more dangerous driving styles than using a phone but a lot of these are ignored - tail gating for one.
Think about the bigger picture as well.
11. Paul Wilson
I can only agree with any comment that suggests an increased punishment for drivers who use hand held mobiles whilst driving, or indeed any selfish acy by a driver who ignores any law or regulation.
The reality is no matter what the punishment the offender must be caught first. The certain knowledge that you will get caught doing something wrong is the only thing that will stop any offence.
12. anonymous
36.7 per cent is "overwhelmingly" ? Hardly. 80% might be - but your figure could, at best, be described only as a "significant minority".
13. Malcolm Johnson
The Portuguese have a good system I understand. If you are caught driving using your mobile, you receive an immediate one month ban. The problem is that you then have to apply for your licence back ... which can take up to another two months!
14. Dale Huxford
Should we also ban smoking, changing a cassette or CD or using a radio to look for a different station? (Do agree with handheld ban) But can see where this is going. Nanny state again. Munching on a chocolate bar ought to be included in the ban, certainly opening one should be, or a drink, or how about blowing your nose or operating the satellite navigation. Tackle this at the root cause, not by legislating everything. We, us, the people need to be educated do the right thing. The law is already there, the offence is called 'driving without due care and attention'.
15. Neil Postlethwaite
Re: the comment of driving with due care and atention (or whatever it is called these days).
The problem is excessive bad driving symptoms - not paying attention and being a danger on the roads due to erratic driving. It is caused by using a mobile phone/choccy bars/CD - WHATEVER whilst driving, some poeople can do this most can't, though many others just struggle to drive compentantly.
As with almost everything in this country that is bollocks, it is down people not doing things right. In this case police not enforcing current driving standards laws. Maybe they are all busy doing Police Stop TV as they ain't on the roads since the cancer spread of speed camera's.
Speed does not, in general cause accidents, driving like a dickhead does.
Once again, we need enforcement of current laws, not new laws.
Consider this at the next election:
1. Rose Tinted Spec's party.
NHS will be fantastic, immigrants sent back, everyone will win the lottery, roads, trains superb, smokers/fox hunters persecuted worse than paedophiles etc...
2. Realism Party.
We will have a good go at JUST MAKING THINGS WORK. We will not promise you the earth to get in and then fail misrably.
Wonder who will win !!
16. anonymous
It is not enough to say stop using moby phones in the car. What happens when your job requires you to be on the move AND avilable to talk to. What will happen is that a reps day will get longer as he will be forever stopping to use the phone. Will his company expect less of him for this? Well, is the pope a catholic? It willl just add to the stress!
17. royston
yrs ago as a taxi driver the police pulled quit a few drivers for smokeing whilst driveing and also for resting elbows out the window whilst driveing, they said it was because you dont have proper practical control of the steering wheel and that you should use both hands on the steering wheel. so useing a moby is def dangerous.we used to see the odd ones useing the old "brick phones" whilst driveing. most drivers are right handed and have to twist or swap hands to put the phone down as well.the need for miniture phones makes them easier to handle as well.have you ever been a passenger and seen the driver start to flap an panick when the moby rings? it scares me to death as the driver loses all concentration on the road and starts looking for the moby even if they dont intend to use it. just to see who it is ringing on some displays. the things are dangerous in cars when they ring. and i have lost count of lorry drivers in comand of huge wagons driveing one handed useing the phone. they have a lot of money to lose by getting a ban so the messege is the same, "dont use the mobile phone whilst driveing because its not just your life in danger". and silicon.com a good report at last!