Three years after a law was introduced banning the use of hand-held units in cars, a new survey has found that many drivers do not believe it goes far enough.
Other key findings include more than one-third of drivers admitting to illegally using a phone on the move, with one in seven of those doing so at least once a month.
Those behind the survey say this may be because motorists have little confidence that people breaking the law will be prosecuted – with six out of 10 respondents thinking there is a less than 10% chance they will be caught.
A total of 54% of respondents said all types of mobile should be banned while driving. More than 1,000 drivers were quizzed for the study, carried out by road safety charity Brake and breakdown service Green Flag.
Brake chief executive Mary Williams OBE said: ‘Mobile phones continue to cause deaths and injuries on our roads. It is high time the government took steps to ensure the law is properly enforced, and extended the ban on using mobile phones while driving to reflect research that shows using a hands-free phone at the wheel can be equally deadly.’
Green Flag spokesman Nigel Charlesworth said: ‘We are surprised at the extent to which many motorists are still tempted to dial, text and take calls while driving – often at high speeds and in many cases while driving heavy goods vehicles.’
As part of the Road Safety Bill, which was given Royal Assent last month, the penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving and for failing to have proper control of a vehicle will be increased to include three penalty points and a £60 fixed penalty fine.
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