- Mobile site
- E-Newsletters
-
- News feed
- Find us on Twitter
@yorkpress
Follow us on Twitter
- Find us on Facebook
The Press, York
Like us on Facebook
Four a day fined for driving on phone (From York Press)
Get in touch: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting YORK to 80360 or send an email»
Four a day fined for driving on phone in North Yorkshire
10:40am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News
By Kate Liptrot, Crime Reporter
THOUSANDS of drivers in North Yorkshire are putting lives at risk by using their phones while driving or not using a seatbelt, new figures show.
Last year, an average of four drivers a day were fined for using a mobile phone at the wheel in North Yorkshire, while nearly three a day were fined for not using a seatbelt, according to new statistics obtained by The Press.
Road safety campaigners and police have condemned motorists flouting the law, accusing them of putting their own and others’ lives at risk. Insp Victoria Taylor, of North Yorkshire Police’s RoadsPolicing Group, said: “It is beyond belief that people still put their lives and the lives of others at risk by using a mobile phone while they drive or, unbelievably, by not wearing a seatbelt.
“Despite the warnings and high-profile campaigns about the potential dangers, people still show shocking disregard for road safety.
“Those who have been fined should consider themselves the lucky ones as they have returned home safely; others, sadly, do not. As long as people continue to flout the law, rest assured we will continue to enforce it.”
Ben Schofield, a spokesman for The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), said: “We think these figures reflect the amount of effort police have been putting into seatbelt and mobile phone use. The seatbelt has been around for 30 years and there has been legislation on phones for years – people should be getting the message and should expect to get caught.
“They are endangering their lives, those of their passengers and those of people on the roads.”
Last year, North Yorkshire Police fined 1,439 motorists for driving while using phones and 903 for not wearing a seatbelt. In total, they issued 12,247 fixed-penalty notices to motorists, totalling £745,700 in fines paid to the Government.
The figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that two people received notices for driving the wrong way on a motorway, one for driving on the hard shoulder and another for reversing on a motorway and 17 for driving the wrong way down a one way street.
A further 1,383 drivers were fined for exceeding the 70mph limit on motorways and dual carriageways, 1,151 for speeding in 30mph zones and 2,063 for driving without an MOT certificate.
Five drivers were fined for driving with a baby under three not wearing a rear seatbelt, 551 for not having insurance and 1,163 for not waiting.
Seven people were stopped for wilful obstruction and 68 cyclists stopped for riding on a footpath.
An IAM spokesman said each year not wearing a seatbelt was a contributory factor in more than 220 deaths and serious injuries nationally.
The organisation said it had also found using smartphones behind the wheel was more dangerous than drink-driving.
Perils posed by using phones in cars
• In January motorist Susan Noble, 29, from Armthorpe near Doncaster, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving on the A19 near Northallerton. She was exchanging text messages with a friend in December 2011 when she hit Alexandru Braninski, 25, a Romanian national whose punctured tyre was being repaired.
• Last September lorry driver Martin Griffiths of Newark in Lincolnshire was given a three-year driving ban after being convicted of dangerous driving. He had been texting and browsing the internet on his phone shortly before his HGV hit a car on the hard shoulder of the A1 near Wetherby. The driver had to hurdle the crash barrier to avoid being hit.
Comments(34)
George Appleby
says...
10:59am Wed 13 Mar 13
RingoStarr
says...
11:01am Wed 13 Mar 13
Hmm, won't do their phones a lot of good either!
jadestars
says...
11:02am Wed 13 Mar 13
pedalling paul
says...
11:09am Wed 13 Mar 13
.uk/latest-news/2809
11.htm
I am equally critical of the minority of cyclists who use a phone whilst pedalling. They are at serious risk of falling off and damaging their chav clothing..
Buzz Light-year
says...
12:06pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Mr Udigawa
says...
12:11pm Wed 13 Mar 13
• Last September lorry driver Martin Griffiths of Newark in Lincolnshire was given a three-year driving ban after being convicted of dangerous driving. He had been texting and browsing the internet on his phone shortly before his HGV hit a car on the hard shoulder of the A1 near Wetherby. The driver had to hurdle the crash barrier to avoid being hit.
It beats me why the two sentences aren't the same, the offences are the same, it's just the outcome that's different.
the original Homer
says...
12:25pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Mr Udigawa wrote:.. and should all assaults carry a mandatory life sentence, on the same basis, i.e. it's only the outcome that differentiates them from murder?
• In January motorist Susan Noble, 29, from Armthorpe near Doncaster, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving on the A19 near Northallerton. She was exchanging text messages with a friend in December 2011 when she hit Alexandru Braninski, 25, a Romanian national whose punctured tyre was being repaired. • Last September lorry driver Martin Griffiths of Newark in Lincolnshire was given a three-year driving ban after being convicted of dangerous driving. He had been texting and browsing the internet on his phone shortly before his HGV hit a car on the hard shoulder of the A1 near Wetherby. The driver had to hurdle the crash barrier to avoid being hit. It beats me why the two sentences aren't the same, the offences are the same, it's just the outcome that's different.
Podlet
says...
12:30pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Oh! Oh! I know!
Because they use different words!
Davroshasissues
says...
12:34pm Wed 13 Mar 13
As i got closer i noticed he was on his mobile phone, then in the opposite lane a traffic police car was slowly going past...the guy then hung up and put his seatbelt on!!! did the police car turn round and apprehend him? erm...no....
So this guy does it blatently right in front of a police car, and nothing is done about it. it's rediculous...
I really don't get why anyone would use their mobile whilst driving, is any call THAT important?
Davroshasissues
says...
12:37pm Wed 13 Mar 13
notmyrealname
says...
1:13pm Wed 13 Mar 13
( sat navs are nearly as bad - try looking at the road please !)
again
says...
1:32pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Driver turned left without indicating because one hand was being used to hold the phone. Just managed to jump clear then phoned the company whose transport manager said nothing could be done because I didn't get the reg. I shall if I survive the next encounter.
bolero
says...
1:33pm Wed 13 Mar 13
akuma
says...
3:26pm Wed 13 Mar 13
jadestars wrote:So true, in my 3 mile trip up the A1237 on a morning I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of people I see on phones.
only 4 a day?? I see more than that on my 10 min Journey to work in the morning up the york outer ring road!
Mr Udigawa
says...
3:56pm Wed 13 Mar 13
the original Homer wrote:Assault carries a lot of variables, the two cases above look very similar, the only obvious difference is that one gent was lucky and managed to jump out of the way in time, unfortunately the other wasn't.
Mr Udigawa wrote: • In January motorist Susan Noble, 29, from Armthorpe near Doncaster, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving on the A19 near Northallerton. She was exchanging text messages with a friend in December 2011 when she hit Alexandru Braninski, 25, a Romanian national whose punctured tyre was being repaired. • Last September lorry driver Martin Griffiths of Newark in Lincolnshire was given a three-year driving ban after being convicted of dangerous driving. He had been texting and browsing the internet on his phone shortly before his HGV hit a car on the hard shoulder of the A1 near Wetherby. The driver had to hurdle the crash barrier to avoid being hit. It beats me why the two sentences aren't the same, the offences are the same, it's just the outcome that's different... and should all assaults carry a mandatory life sentence, on the same basis, i.e. it's only the outcome that differentiates them from murder?
Guy Fawkes
says...
4:07pm Wed 13 Mar 13
It beats me why the two sentences aren't the same, the offences are the same, it's just the outcome that's different.
The outcome of a criminal act is and always has been one of the main factors used to determine the severity of the sentence imposed for it. In this example, causing death by dangerous driving carries a higher sentence than just dangerous driving.
The problem with abandoning that distinction is that doing so would remove any incentive to minimise the consequences of a criminal act. Let's say for argument's sake that you are driving along while on the phone and accidentally run over a granny on a pedestrian crossing. She is badly injured, but still alive. With the law as it is now, it is in your interest to ensure that she gets medical help ASAP, because if she survives and makes a full recovery, your sentence will be lower. If you knew that the sentence would be the same whether she lived or died, then your no. 1 priority would be to evade capture, in this case by driving off and leaving her to die.
roclank2000
says...
4:09pm Wed 13 Mar 13
akuma wrote:I don't have enough bodily extremities to count the number of people that are busy watching the activities of other drivers, as they drive. What the road and mind your own business.
jadestars wrote:So true, in my 3 mile trip up the A1237 on a morning I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of people I see on phones.
only 4 a day?? I see more than that on my 10 min Journey to work in the morning up the york outer ring road!
purpletimbo
says...
4:09pm Wed 13 Mar 13
R'Marcus
says...
4:14pm Wed 13 Mar 13
It ius time that the law in this country had teeth-strong teeth!
mmarshal
says...
4:44pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Guy Fawkes
says...
5:06pm Wed 13 Mar 13
...I count the number of cars with one or more lights not working...
...and who use front foglights and/or full beams as a substitute for a blown dipped beam bulb, or badly aligned xenon arc bulbs that dazzle drivers in front and oncoming. With today's image recognition software it should surely be possible to program speed cameras so that they can also detect cars with blown bulbs passing them, and ones with front foglights on when they shouldn't be, as well as those that are speeding.
mr-grumpy
says...
5:20pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Only the other day I contacted Emsley Crane Hire as one of their drivers was on the phone will driving into the city. Did actually get a nice response that the driver would be disciplined if they can prove this.
bolero
says...
5:29pm Wed 13 Mar 13
roclank2000 wrote:Guilty conscience or what?
akuma wrote:I don't have enough bodily extremities to count the number of people that are busy watching the activities of other drivers, as they drive. What the road and mind your own business.
jadestars wrote:So true, in my 3 mile trip up the A1237 on a morning I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of people I see on phones.
only 4 a day?? I see more than that on my 10 min Journey to work in the morning up the york outer ring road!
Back and Beyond
says...
8:15pm Wed 13 Mar 13
None for braking the 20 limit then?
stopatred
says...
9:51pm Wed 13 Mar 13
stopatred
says...
9:52pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Rockyrabbit
says...
9:54pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Magicman!
says...
4:11am Thu 14 Mar 13
stopatred wrote:Indeed, I see the same sort of thing every time I go out on the bike, which is at least one out and return journey per day... I normally count at least 5 people driving whilst using their phones (including texting) and the vehicle is in motion, and those are just the ones I see as they go past - if I'm concentrating on a section of road there's probably more drivers going past on their phones I don't see. The thing is even if you can't see the driver you know if they're on the phone because the car will be going slower than other traffic on the road and will be taking an irregular line along the road.
cycling to work down tadcaster road 8.30. ish you can see drivers on phones while taking kids to school. They dont seem concerned at all One veered over white lines and nearly hit a bus coming other way. Ashtonishing.
To be honest today seemed to be pretty bad for some reason - 7 drivers on phones I spotted, a driver on monkgate roundabout being way too cautions and stopped right in the middle of the roundabout because I started to slowly roll forward to file in behind them (and obviously their stupid sudden stopping caused me to have to then stop in the 1st lane of the roundabout too - whereas if they'd actually thought it through they'd have realised that if they'd carried on I would have gone in behind and everything would have been OK - overcautious drivers are just as dangerous as undercautious drivers), and then a dark grey van on St Lenoards Place trying to bully me into the back of a number 5 bus because he didn't want to wait 3 seconds to get to the back of the traffic queue. Maybe cold weather brings out the morons or something!
As for punishment for mobile phone offenses, how about phone confiscation? if they're caught on the phone whilst driving, their phone can be confiscated by the police for a minimum of 2 hours and the driver has to recover it from the police station local to where the offense took place. It'd be a major inconvenience to the driver and would have the same effect regardless of how much money they have.
ouseswimmer
says...
6:44am Thu 14 Mar 13
stopatred
says...
7:45am Thu 14 Mar 13
i could make a fortune.
Podlet
says...
9:48am Thu 14 Mar 13
Guy Fawkes wrote:Unless, of course, you were around Bootham, hey Fawkes wit? Based on your postings, if she'd "escaped" you would have "done the world a favour" by "leaving her to die."
It beats me why the two sentences aren't the same, the offences are the same, it's just the outcome that's different.
The outcome of a criminal act is and always has been one of the main factors used to determine the severity of the sentence imposed for it. In this example, causing death by dangerous driving carries a higher sentence than just dangerous driving.
The problem with abandoning that distinction is that doing so would remove any incentive to minimise the consequences of a criminal act. Let's say for argument's sake that you are driving along while on the phone and accidentally run over a granny on a pedestrian crossing. She is badly injured, but still alive. With the law as it is now, it is in your interest to ensure that she gets medical help ASAP, because if she survives and makes a full recovery, your sentence will be lower. If you knew that the sentence would be the same whether she lived or died, then your no. 1 priority would be to evade capture, in this case by driving off and leaving her to die.
I think I shall change my login name to "GotMyGoat".
Davroshasissues
says...
11:21am Thu 14 Mar 13
roclank2000 wrote:You can mind your own business as much as you like, but that doesn't stop some moron on their phone losing control of their vehicle and hitting yours. You'd be interested in others on the road if you got shunted by one wouldn't you?? checking your rear-view mirror to see someone hanging up their call? imagine your blood boiling....
akuma wrote:I don't have enough bodily extremities to count the number of people that are busy watching the activities of other drivers, as they drive. What the road and mind your own business.jadestars wrote: only 4 a day?? I see more than that on my 10 min Journey to work in the morning up the york outer ring road!So true, in my 3 mile trip up the A1237 on a morning I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of people I see on phones.
And watching what others are doing IS all part of watching the road...and out of interest, do you actually watch the road? cos i find looking at eye level works best in a driving situation...
Podlet
says...
11:48am Thu 14 Mar 13
Davroshasissues wrote:Based on the driving skills reported, looking at @r$e level might be more appropriate.
roclank2000 wrote:You can mind your own business as much as you like, but that doesn't stop some moron on their phone losing control of their vehicle and hitting yours. You'd be interested in others on the road if you got shunted by one wouldn't you?? checking your rear-view mirror to see someone hanging up their call? imagine your blood boiling....
akuma wrote:I don't have enough bodily extremities to count the number of people that are busy watching the activities of other drivers, as they drive. What the road and mind your own business.jadestars wrote: only 4 a day?? I see more than that on my 10 min Journey to work in the morning up the york outer ring road!So true, in my 3 mile trip up the A1237 on a morning I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of people I see on phones.
And watching what others are doing IS all part of watching the road...and out of interest, do you actually watch the road? cos i find looking at eye level works best in a driving situation...
George Appleby says...
10:57am Wed 13 Mar 13