Another crackdown

[jd.linklater]

So the Government have announced tougher penalties for drivers using a phone at the wheel. Fines and points accrued are to be doubled from today and another 7 day crackdown has been announced with increased police patrols on the lookout for offenders. Anyone who has held a licence for less than 2 years will have to retake their driving and theory tests. What are others' views on this? Do the new rules go far enough?

I know that statistically new drivers are mostly younger people who spend a lot more time on their phones than the older generation but should they be penalised more than other drivers who in all probability have been committing the same offence for a longer period? It seems to be making it a two tier offence which in my opinion is ridiculous, if the rules are broken there should be no disparity in punishments dished out. There should be an immediate 12 month ban for first offenders, same as with drink driving. Also there should be no mitigating circumstances when offenders are brought to court, eg 'I need a vehicle for my job' If that is the case then there is all the more reason why you should have had a hands free kit fitted beforehand. Hands free kits are available for not much more than £20 yet still people take the risk of a fine of ten times that cost.

The police say the last crackdown in January resulted in 3,600 drivers being caught but they can't have onrunning crackdowns, they simply don't have the manpower or resources. I still think that we should have the technology to disable mobile phones whilst a vehicle is running but are there any other ideas out there?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39118523

[littleme61_6]

Ideally all drivers should turn off their mobile phones before they get into any vehicle. Surely sense should prevail in them to know any distraction while driving could, and can, cause an accident, even death to them or of course any innocent person out there on the road. 

I too firmly believe any driver caught using their mobile phone while driving, or even sat at the traffic lights or held up for any reason, should be punished exactly the same, no matter how long they have had their licence. And receive an instant ban from driving for a set period of time for the first offence of that, and of course much longer if caught doing the same thing. No one should be exempt from that no matter what reason/excuse they give for needing their car. 

[aand2136-voqfz8yx]

JD; I think the reason why new drivers are banned if they use their mobile is not to do with treating them more harshly than other drivers; it's to do with the number of points they can 'tot' up before they are banned. Within the first 2 years of passing your test you only have 6 points to 'play with', thereafter it increases to 12. The punishment for using a mobile is now 6 points on your licence for everyone, hence one single offence of driving whilst using a mobile will cause a new driver to be banned.

Similar with drink driving; most are banned even on first offence, but in some circumstances the points can vary between 3 and 11. Hence falling short of an automatic driving ban, unless of course you already have points on your licence for other offences.

I wholeheartedly agree with your statement regarding 'needing your vehicle for your job'. If it is that important then even more reason for you to not break the driving law.

[jd.linklater]

Thanks for that info. I didn't know that new drivers only have 6 points available, maybe I need to get an up to date edition of the highway code.

[bankhaunter]

But is there any point?

A motorist from Basildon has 42 points for seven offences including driving at 109mph. They avoided a ban because their lawyer argued they would suffer "extreme hardship" through a loss of income if disqualified.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-worst-driver-51-points-7134764

Am I alone in thinking that a person who relies on being able to drive for their income, should be even more careful and not be able to use it to avoid disqualification?

[jd.linklater]

Over 7,500 people are currently still driving with 12 points or more on their licence, that's an unfeasibly large amount of discretion being exercised by magistrates. Is it any wonder there are so many repeat offenders?

[evoman3957]

The courts are suckers for a " sob " story and the ones that " bleat " the most, are the worse offenders.........they should have Equity cards..........I've experienced it first hand.........they know how the system works and boy do they milk it !!

[mustard-tree]

 jd says "I still think that we should have the technology to disable mobile phones whilst a vehicle is running"

I occassionally use a mobile while car is running, but  I am in the passenger seat and not driving.

[evoman3957]

If there's anything else you can't live without, other than Air, Food, Water and shelter; then you've got problems and if one of those things is a mobile phone..........then you're a lot sicker than you know !!