Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in the RAC report, Motoring 2015, published in September 2015, that 12 per cent of motorists think it is acceptable to make a short call on a hand-held mobile device whilst driving; and what measures his Department plans to take to research the potential effectiveness and enforcement of legislation on the use of such devices for (a) phone calls and (b) using social media whilst driving.

Andrew Jones

It is illegal to use a hand held device to make phone calls or use social media whilst driving. The Department is considering the findings of the research study undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) which looked at the prevalence of phone use across England and Scotland. This study will help inform future policy decisions. Effective enforcement will remain a key priority. The previous Government in 2013 increased the fixed penalty level for using a mobile phone at the wheel to £100 and the Department will continue to keep further deterrent measures under consideration.