23 November 2006

Too many motorists still flout the law and use a mobile phone while driving

Despite it being illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone and the introduction of stiffer penalties for the offence outlined earlier this month, LARSOA says far too many people are still using their handsets while driving.

The Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association is appealing to drivers to turn off their phones when they are behind the wheel and think about saving lives not penalty points.

This week a lorry driver has been convicted of killing two schoolgirls who died when his vehicle collided with the car they were travelling in moments after he finished a call on his mobile phone.

Robert Murray, 51, was found guilty on two counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a five-day trial at Stafford Crown Court. He will be sentenced later but has been warned that a custodial sentence is inevitable.

The jury heard that Murray, from Telford, Shropshire, was using a hand-held phone shortly before the crash in which Rebecca Casterton, 13, and 12-year-old Lauren Brooks died. The girls were rear seat passengers in a Renault Clio which was struck by Murray's lorry.

Police condemned Murray's actions as reckless and said the girls' deaths were needless leaving their families devastated.

Simon Ettinghausen, chair of LARSOA says: "We hope verdicts like this send a strong message to drivers about the tragic results of dangerous driving and the potentially lethal distraction mobile phones can cause.

"Nothing can bring those two young girls back and their families now have to live with the effects of that phone call for the rest of their lives.

"Every day I still see motorists using mobile phones while driving and in many cases they are swerving out of their lanes, slowing down suddenly or speeding up as they try to talk and drive at the same time.

"As an association of professional road safety officers, LARSOA is pleased there will soon be increased penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving with the fixed penalty fine rising from £30 to £60 and drivers receiving three penalty points on their licences.

"We hope people will see that this is not a petty offence and respect not just the law but other people's right to travel safely on the roads."

Ends.

Notes to Newsdesks/Reporters: For further information please contact Alison Ferst on 01287 610404 or 07779 435794.

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.