The number of motorists caught using a mobile phone illegally has almost halved since penalties for offenders were doubled, new figures show.
Around 39,000 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were issued to drivers between March and December last year compared with 74,000 during the same period in 2016, according to police data.
The 47% decline is due to a combination of harsher punishments, road safety campaigns and a lack of enforcement due to reductions in traffic officer numbers, according to the AA.
The figures were obtained by the breakdown rescue firm after it submitted Freedom of Information requests to all of the UK’s 45 police forces. It received responses from 41.
Since March 1 last year, motorists caught using a handheld phone have faced receiving six points on their licence and a £200 fine – up from the previous penalty of three points and £100.
Drivers can lose their licence if they receive 12 points within three years, or six points in the first two years after passing their test.
March saw the most FPNs issued for mobile use in 2017 as many forces conducted a crackdown on distracted drivers, with more than 8,500 caught.
The lowest monthly total was 1,400 in December as police focused their efforts on drink-drivers over the festive period.
AA president Edmund King said: “It will take time for a wholesale change in attitudes to really take effect.
“While some have got the message and changed their behaviour, many drivers still believe they won’t get caught.”
Separate RAC research found that nearly one in five (19%) firms say their employees have been involved in an accident after using a phone illegally while driving for work.
A survey of 1,000 UK businesses revealed that 5% admit this happens “on a regular basis”.
Department for Transport figures show 780 people were injured in accidents in 2016 when a driver was distracted or impaired by their phone, up 10% on the previous year.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here