InsureYourMotor.com backs mobile ban

Leading online motor insurance broker InsureYourMotor.com has welcomed the announcement by the Department for Transport to ban driving while using hand held mobile phones. Ministers say the new offence is to take effect from December 1st this year, with offenders fined £30 initially or up to £1000 if their case goes to court. Those caught breaking the ban would also get three penalty points on their licence for each offence. By the year 2005 it is estimated that some 45 million people will own a mobile phone, and its use in cars will surely continue. We spend more time behind the wheel than ever before, just as we spend more time on the phone, therefore, doing both at the same time is inevitable unless something is done to prevent it. Research has shown that over a third of motorists (37%) admit to using a mobile phone while driving, despite the fact that this slows down reaction times by nearly 70%. At least 35 countries have introduced legislation to prohibit drivers from using mobile phones while driving and several more countries are considering imposing the ban. In the UK current laws state that motorists can only be prosecuted for using mobiles if they fail to keep proper control of their vehicle – there is no actual law specifically prohibiting the use of mobiles whilst driving. Japan is the only country to have published an evaluation of the effect of its legislation on accidents involving drivers using mobile phones. Its results show a 52% reduction in accidents involving mobile phone use. David Harlow MD of InsureYourMotor.com comments: “The insurance industry is 100 percent behind anything that makes driving safer and accidents a less likely occurrence. In fact I don’t think enough is being done to ensure mobile phone use is abolished whilst driving. I believe that much harsher penalties should be introduced as a deterrent, as we all know that something like this would be extremely difficult to police.” There is the argument that the use of mobile phones is just one distraction for drivers. There are of course many others, for example, women doing their make-up, people eating, reading or searching around on the back seat. Even things such as listening to and fiddling with the radio can be a serious distraction. It is not realistic to eradicate all distractions whilst driving, in fact recent findings by Spanish researchers suggest that performing any complex mental tasks whilst driving is dangerous. Experiments monitoring drivers on motorways show that thinking too much can dramatically reduce the ability to spot potential problems and react to them safely. The research also indicated that hands-free phones may pose the same threat as talking to a passenger.