Mobile Phones When Driving

Whilst teaching Driver CPC we regularly advise drivers that driving whilst using a mobile phone is one of the most dangerous things they can do.

Statistics often quoted within the media say that using a mobile phone at the wheel is 4 times more dangerous than drink driving.

And yet we still see it everyday!

The law in the UK changed in 2003 and made it illegal to use your mobile phone at the wheel. The law changed from 1st March 2017 where the penalty doubled to what it had been previously, and so if you were caught doing this, the penalty was a £200 fine and 6 points on your licence.

Statistics from an article in The Independent stated:

“Figures published by the Ministry of Justice show the number of offenders convicted of “using or causing others to use a handheld mobile phone while driving” fell by nearly half between 2012 and 2016 – from 22,135 to 11,961.”

This is because there has been a decline in traffic officers.

Large goods vehicle drivers tell us all the time that they see so many people on a daily basis using their phones and they can tell when a driver is using their mobile phone because of their erratic driving behaviour.

The mobile phone in a vehicle is a distraction and inattentive and distracted drivers carry risks for their employers as well as the public.

In 2016 motor vehicles covered 521 billion km in Great Britain, resulting in 1,792 road fatalities, 24,101 serious injuries and 155,491 minor injuries. All those incidents, as well as the millions in the years before and the toll since, have consequences for those immediately involved, but many also have an impact on employers.

Employers have to take care that their requirements on workers who drive, from sales reps to heavy goods vehicle drivers, do not contribute to circumstances in which they are not giving that task their full attention.

Have you got a mobile phone policy? Have you given training on the consequences of using a mobile phone at the wheel?

This is now becoming a popular training and gives some drivers good information, statistics and solid evidence to ensure they understand the reality that life changing injuries and fatalities happen all the time because of this.

If you want to know more about training for any driver within your company, please email us at info@totalcompliance.co.uk