Police Crack Down On Phone Driving

The Police in the UK are starting a new initiative to crack down on drivers using hand held mobile phones. Latest figures show that the amount of people using a mobile phone while driving has increased over the several years. New figures show the main offenders for the increase are younger drivers aged 17-24 who regularly read and type text messages as well as talking while driving. A recent survey undertaken by Bluetooth Car Kit Direct shows that over 70% of that age group have done so at least once this year, however many do admit to doing it regularly. Many different answers were given when questioned as to why they committed the offense, however the main response from the male section of the group was down to over confidence or the ability to navigate away from a dangerous situation (if one happened). Many of the females questioned pleaded ignorance to the law's in place since 2003 and updated in 2007, stating that they didn't know it was against the law. However the female section did recognize that it was more dangerous to drive while on the phone than when not. The second highest offenders were the group of 25-34 year olds of which 20% admitted to regularly using the mobile phone while driving but did realize that they were breaking the law. Many of this group would only check a text if they were expecting an important message and would usually leave an incoming call unless important. The last group 35-Over very rarely answer calls while driving and virtually never read texts. Only 5% admitted to using the phone illegally while driving this year, however of this age group questioned over half already used a Bluetooth car kit when driving (were discounted from the survey). The rest were unaware of what a Bluetooth car kit was, however were very interested when shown a demonstration of how they worked. Bluetooth car kit direct demonstrated how various Bluetooth car kits worked to everybody questioned in the survey. Everybody thought that all the kits shown were very useful and could see the benefits of having one. A lot of people were also surprised how cheap the kits were and they didn't have an excuse for not using one. John (in the 25-34 age group) stated "The kit i liked was $54.99 that's half the price of a fine from the police and without the 3 points, I'm definitely buying one" The police crack down is due to the large amounts of accidents attended by the police in which a mobile phone was being used. No new powers are being used however police are now more vigilant and are on the look out for phone-drivers. They are also less likely to let the offender off with a warning when caught instead opting for the $90 fine and 3 points. Not only are the bluetooth car kits cheaper, they may also prevent an accident.