Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) is highlighting that the penalties for using, or holding, a handheld mobile phone whilst driving increase from today (March 1).
The fine has now increased to £200, six penalty points and the withdrawal of the educational course that negated the points awarded.
The use of handheld mobile phones whilst driving has been against the law since 2003. An increase in fine to £60 and penalty points in 2006 and subsequently £100 has done little to deter drivers using them, despite many people being killed or seriously injured.
LRSP communications manager John Siddle said: “Historically we know that three points on a licence will cost, in terms of insurance, approximately £500 over the period they are valid.
“Drivers can no longer evade the points so will always face increased premiums and will automatically face a ban from driving if caught a second time.”
A driver is four times more likely to have a collision whilst using a mobile phone and more than a third of motorists admit to using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving. Combine this with travelling on rural Lincolnshire roads, often at the national speed limit and the outcome is often fatal.
Mr Siddle added: “Drivers have long argued that using a phone in the car is no more dangerous than talking to a passenger or listening to music – they are wrong!
“The cognitive distraction and the emotional responses active in the brain, whilst the other person has no opportunity to gauge responses by way of facial expression or body movement override that part of the brain that is used for decisions and recognition of dangers whilst driving.
“To mix the two actions has resulted in serious injuries on our roads, a blight on families that have lost someone and, in the extreme, death.”
