The penalty for driving and phoning could be death

The penalties for using a hand held mobile phone while you drive are increasing but LARSOA is warning motorists not to forget the ultimate penalty could be death.

Next month (27 th February) the fine if you're caught using your mobile without a hands-free set while behind the wheel rises from £30 to £60 and three points on your licence.

The Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association urges motorists to avoid taking or making any calls when driving because the distraction it can cause can kill.

David Frost, LARSOA spokesman, says: "Using a phone in any form while driving is a distraction putting both yourself and other road users at risk. Driving requires a huge amount of concentration just to navigate the hazards and other traffic; it is not something which should be done on automatic pilot while you concentrate on a phone call."

In line with government campaigns, LARSOA urges drivers to switch off their mobile phones when they get in the car and make use of voicemail so they are not even tempted to answer it if it rings.

Newly qualified drivers could easily be disqualified because if they accumulate six points on their licence in the first two years after passing their test they will return to Learner Driver status under the New Drivers Act.

Drivers can also be prosecuted for using a hands-free mobile phone if they are not in proper control of their vehicle.

David explains: "Research shows that if you use your mobile phone while you drive you are four times more likely to be involved in a crash. Using any type of mobile phone, even hands-free slows your reaction time to a hazard more than if you were driving under the influence of alcohol.

"Driving after drinking too much alcohol is unacceptable but people have to accept that using a mobile while driving is equally unacceptable."

In surveys, 90% of respondents have said it should be illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone but more than 25% of drivers have admitted to doing it.

"Tests have shown that reaction times for drivers using a hand-held phone were 30% worse than for driving while drunk. They were nearly 50% worse than when driving under normal conditions. It is playing Russian roulette on the roads. All we can say is turn it off."

ABOUT LARSOA

LARSOA is a national road safety organisation representing road safety officers (RSOs) employed in local government across the UK.

LARSOA represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.

LARSOA publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.larsoa.org.uk .

LARSOA also aims to influence national debate - government policy and action together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.

The association assists in identifying achievable national targets to reduce the number of collisions on the country's roads.