British drivers face ban on hands-free mobiles

UK drivers could be banned from using phones in hands-free mode, following a suggestion from MPs. The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has said that current UK law creates the “misleading impression” that the use of hands-free phones is a safe driving practice. However, there is increasing evidence to show that hands-free usage “creates the same risks of collision as using a hand-held device,” say the law-makers. In its latest report, Road Safety: driving while using a mobile phone, the
August 14, 2019 Read time: 3 mins

UK drivers could be banned from using phones in hands-free mode, following a suggestion from MPs.

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has said that current UK law creates the “misleading impression” that the use of hands-free phones is a safe driving practice.

However, there is increasing evidence to show that hands-free usage “creates the same risks of collision as using a hand-held device,” say the law-makers.

In its latest %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external report false https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmtrans/2329/2329.pdf false false%>, Road Safety: driving while using a mobile phone, the committee says there were 773 causalities (including 43 deaths and 135 serious injuries in 2017) resulting from collisions where a driver using a mobile phone was a contributing factor.

The committee is now calling on the UK government to explore options for extending the ban on driving while using a hand-held mobile phone to include hands-free devices. It wants that the government publish a public consultation on the proposal by the end of 2019.

The report recommends that the government considers whether penalties for driving while using a mobile phone should be increased to “better reflect” the risks created by offenders.

Since March 2017, UK drivers caught using a hand-held mobile phone have faced incurring 6 penalty points on their licence and a £200 fine.

Additionally, the committee is urging the government to work with the police and crime commissioners to explore options for improving enforcement while also looking at opportunities to make greater use of technology.

Chair of the committee, Lilian Greenwood MP, says: “Despite the real risk of catastrophic consequences for themselves, their passengers and other road users, far too many drivers continue to break the law by using hand-held mobile phones.

“If mobile phone use while driving is to become as socially unacceptable as drink driving much more effort needs to go into educating drivers about the risks and consequences of using a phone behind the wheel. Offenders also need to know there is a credible risk of being caught, and that there are serious consequences for being caught.”

She insists that any use of a phone distracts a driver’s ability to pay full attention and the government should “consider extending the ban to reflect this”.

“Each death and serious injury which results from a driver using a mobile phone is a tragedy that is entirely avoidable,” Greenwood continues. “We need tougher restrictions, better enforcement and more education to make our roads safer for all.

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • September 25, 2012
    Q-Free reinforces ITS capabilities, expertise at World Congress
    Q-Free intends to use its appearance at the ITS World Congress to reflect a broader and more accurate reality of the company’s strength and capabilities. That’s not going to be difficult, if one considers the technological and geographical diversity of the company’s success since the beginning of this year alone. In March, Q-Free was awarded the contract for delivery of the congestion charging infrastructure for the Swedish city of Gothenburg which includes road side equipment, infrastructure and service an
    Read More
  • March 18, 2019
    UK council ‘budget cuts’ halt development of EV charging
    More than 100 UK local authorities say they have no plans to increase their number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points. These findings have been revealed from freedom of information (FoI) requests submitted by the Liberal Democrats and shared with The Guardian newspaper. According to the report, Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat former energy and climate change secretary, says the lack of investment in charging points is due to “cuts to council budgets”. “Unless there is urgent action to tackle our out
    Read More
  • October 30, 2014
    Satellite navigation 'has made drivers lazy'
    A majority of UK drivers have no idea of how to read a map and are likely to find themselves hopelessly lost without their satellite navigation (satnav) system. That's the shocking finding of a UK vehicle leasing company which has found that people rely on their electronic devices so heavily that they often have no idea of the route they've taken to reach their destination. In addition, Flexed.co.uk has found that virtually everybody who has used a satellite navigation device has found themselves lost
    Read More
  • February 12, 2018
    Inrix: Congestion cost UK motorists over £37bn in 2017
    The UK is the third most congested country in Europe and the tenth most congested country in the world where costs amounted to more than £37.7bn ($52.2bn) for all drivers in 2017, an average of £1,168 ($2,233) per person. These findings come from Inrix’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard which analysed and ranked the impact of traffic congestion in 1,360 cities across 38 countries. London remained the UK’s most congested major city for the tenth consecutive year as drivers spent an average of 74 hours in
    Read More

Highlighted Content