Driving Offences: Mobile Phones
(asked on 10th February 2015) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been prosecuted or cautioned for using a mobile phone whilst driving in each year since 2010.
Driving offences can have very serious consequences for victims and their families.
Using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous and irresponsible. That is why in 2013 we increased the fixed penalty notice for this offence from £60 to £100 and we are now looking at the effectiveness of the penalty.
We will continue to tackle the minority of drivers who pose a danger to other road users.
The number of offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for offences related to using mobile phones while driving in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table. No cautions have been issued for any summary motoring offence as police practice is to use Fixed Penalty Notices instead.
| Offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences related to driving while using a mobile phone (1), England and Wales, 2009 to 2013 (2)(3) | |||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| Cautioned | - | - | - | - | - |
| Proceeded against | 32,571 | 35,255 | 31,390 | 24,414 | 19,650 |
| '-' = Nil | |||||
| (1) Offences under RR 110 (1) - 110 (3) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 | |||||
| (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of or been cautrioned for two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. | |||||
| (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |||||
| Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |||||
| Ref: PQ HL 4900 | |||||
Cautions and court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.