Fines Fail to Stop Drivers Using Mobile Phones
Friday, 06 January 2012
- Freedom of Information requests to all 43 England and Wales police forces reveal that the number of drivers given FPNs for using mobile phones is higher than in 2006, before tougher measures were introduced
- One in five (18 per cent) UK drivers admit to using a mobile phone while driving in the last year
- Fines of £10m in the last 12 months not enough to deter drivers from using mobile phones
- More than 1.5 million drivers admit to illegally using their smartphones to access social networking sites while driving
Government measures introduced almost five years ago to reduce the number of motorists using mobile devices while driving have not been effective, Freedom of Information findings released by car insurance provider swiftcover.com suggest.
Freedom of Information requests sent to 43 England and Wales police forces revealed that 171,223 motorists - equivalent to one driver every three minutes - were given Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for using hand-held mobile devices while in control of a vehicle in 2010-11(1). This is more than double the number of offences recorded in 2004 (74,000) (2), shortly after mobile phone use while driving was outlawed.
Harsher measures introduced in 2007, when the Government doubled the fine to £60 and added the threat of three points on the driver’s licence have not been effective: in 2006, the year before the measures were introduced, 166,800 drivers were given FPNs for use of handheld mobile phones while driving (2); whereas from September 2010 to August 2011, UK police forces issued 171,223 FPNs for the same offence.
Robin Reames, chief claims officer at swiftcover.com, commented: “It’s clear that current measures to stop motorists using their phones while driving simply aren’t working. An irresponsible but substantial minority of motorists are continuing to flout laws and endanger others, all for the sake of a phone call that could be taken at another time.”
New research, also carried out by swiftcover.com, suggests that nearly almost seven million UK drivers have spoken on their mobile phones while driving in the last 12 months, implying that less than 2.5 per cent of drivers who use their mobile phones are caught, and suggesting that British motorists could be given FPNs worth more than £400m if all those who used their mobile phones while driving were caught.
swiftcover.com’s research also found that 5 per cent of drivers admitted to using social networking sites such as Facebook while driving within the last year, and those aged between 18 and 34 were particularly reckless, with 12 per cent having accessed social networks while behind the wheel.
The number of offenders has risen year on year in some areas, with increases reported by West Yorkshire Police, Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary. Thames Valley Police reported an increase of 21 per cent for 2010-11 compared to 2009-10. The research also revealed that 56 drivers were fined for using mobile phones while supervising a learner driver in 2010-11 in London alone.
Reames continued: “While the vast majority of Brits drive safely and responsibly, our research shows that an alarming number recklessly endanger themselves and others by using mobile phones while driving.
“There’s simply no excuse for using your mobile phone while driving. Not only do you face fines, disqualification or even the possibility of a jail sentence; but anyone who crashes their vehicle while on the phone will be unable to make a claim with their insurer. If your conversation is really that important, pull over somewhere safe and take the call, or consider investing in a hands-free set.”
You should only use your mobile phone in your vehicle if you(3):
• Need to call 999 or 112 in response to a genuine emergency where it's unsafe or impracticable to stop
• Are safely parked (but never stop on the hard shoulder of the motorway unless it’s an emergency)
• Are a passenger
Ends
(1) Two police forces (Cleveland Police and North Yorkshire Police) have not yet responded. The actual figure will be slightly higher – swiftcover.com estimates c. 175,000 based on responses from forces of similar sizes.
(2) Source: Police Powers and Procedures England and Wales 2009/11; second edition; p 61, table 3b “Fixed penalty notices issued by offence type, 2000 to 2009”. published 14 April 2011.
(3) Source: Directgov
Notes to Editors
The Home Office considers Metropolitan Police and City of London Police to be parts of the same force; swiftcover.com sent separate FOI requests to each as separate police forces.
The Home Office does not specify which dates its annual statistics are taken from, but presumably they are from January to December each year. swiftcover.com’s requests were for August to July, which is a different period but still covers the same amount of time.
For press enquiries please contact:
Luke O’Mahony or Sean Williams
Brazil (PR agency for swiftcover.com)
020 7785 7383
swiftcover@agencybrazil.com
About swiftcover:
Based in Cobham, Surrey and employing more than 1,000 people, swiftcover.com started trading in June 2005 and was born out of a desire to revolutionise the general insurance market by making insurance quick and easy to use.
swiftcover.com offers car, home, travel and pet insurance online, and is the only insurance provider in Britain not to use call centres, which provides cost savings that can be passed directly onto the customer, keeping premiums low. swiftcover.com was named Best Value for Money Car Insurer in the UK in the 2010 Lovemoney.com awards.
This powerful operating model combined with successful marketing and competitive pricing has proven to be a tremendous success. In 2008 swiftcover.com achieved over half a million live policies and in May 2009 sold its millionth policy. swiftcover.com is considered to be one of the fastest-growing online insurance providers in the UK and, as of February 2011, has more than 800,000 policy holders.
In 2007, AXA UK acquired swiftcover.com. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Insurance UK PLC which forms part of AXA Group.
About AXA:
AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 216,000 employees serving 93 million clients. In 2010, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 91 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 3.9 billion. AXA had Euro 1,104 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2010.
The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISNFR 0000120628 – Bloomberg: CS FP – Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA’s American Depository Shares are also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.
The Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.
Our previous company performance is not a guide to how we may perform in the future.
Any opinions expressed in this media communication are made as at the date of this publication but are subject to change without notice.
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