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ROAD DEATHS FROM MOBILE ‘PHONE USAGE RAISED IN PARLIAMENT
07 December 2009
Transport minister, Paul Clark MP told the House of Commons last week that 19 people were killed in road accidents in 2008, in answer to a question from South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous.
Andrew Selous MP said “Constituents regularly raise with me their concerns about the danger from motorists who persist in holding mobile phones to their ears while driving and these figures show that we are all at risk on the roads from drivers who persist with this life threatening behaviour”.
Figures from Bedfordshire Police show an average of 128 fixed penalty notices a month issued by them over the last year for the offence of using a mobile ‘phone while driving.
The exchange in Hansard was as follows:
Andrew Selous: Frankly, I think this is an area in which the Government need to raise their game a bit. What action is the Minister taking in respect of the police, who seem very focused on motorists who abuse the speed limit but do not always seem to take seriously the issue of people driving with phones stuck to their ears, often as they go around dangerous corners? What more will the Government do?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Clark): Tackling distraction and excessive speeding is important if we are to ensure that the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads continues to decline. I should point out that there were 135,000 prosecutions and fixed penalties issued in 2007 for hand-held phone offences, those enforcement actions being undertaken by the law enforcement authorities-the police.
