Driver caught playing games on phone as police launch crackdown on motorists using mobiles

But despite the risks – and the fact it is against the law – motorists are still picking up their phones while driving.

There were more than 650 accidents involving mobiles on the country’s roads in 2013 and over three years 66 people have lost their lives.

And Hampshire’s road policing team has had enough, this week launching a major crackdown to rid the roads of distracted drivers.

They have heard every reason possible, from those who were quickly checking their bank account to see if they had been paid, to others who insist they don’t even remember using their phones and one who insisted they weren’t using their phone, they were just videoing a car that cut them up.

One was even caught playing games in his phone while in a traffic queue and when questioned by officers he said “I was bored”.

But no matter how urgent the call or text, the county’s officers are on a mission to prevent accidents caused by mobiles used in the car.

Crashes like the one that killed 28- year-old Rachel Titley, who died in a head-on smash with Craig Eccleston, who had been texting from behind the wheel.

This distracted him so much that he failed to negotiate a left hand bend and veered across the central white lines into the path of Rachel’s car on the Isle of Wight.

Evidence showed that Rachel could have done nothing to avoid the collision and was an innocent party.

Rachel Titley

He was jailed for six years and tragically Rachel lost her life – all because of a text message. As officers embarked on a dedicated campaign this week to target drivers who persist on using their mobile phones, the Daily Echo went out with them to see how they were tackling the growing plague on our roads.

As the paper went to print last night, the team had caught 205 people using their mobiles – with still more than 24 hours of the campaign to go.

All of those caught were not only putting themselves at risk but other road users too, as drivers using mobile phones are four times more likely to be involved in a collision and a driver’s reaction time can be around 50 per cent slower.

Sergeant Rob Heard said: “These results are disappointing, and show that many people are still not understanding the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.

“The majority of people know they should not be using their phone whilst driving, but appear not to understand what a huge distraction it is.

“This just shows the reason why we need to run such campaigns and remind people of the dangers, and prosecute those who feel it is still acceptable to take that risk.” We joined a team of officers from Totton’s Roads Policing Unit that had set up a mini operation along Southampton Road.

As scores of commuters headed to work officers pulled over those using their phones, directing them into the car park at Lakeside where they were either cautioned or handed a penalty ticket.

It wasn’t long before the first culprit was spotted and within just the first hour three drivers heading into Eastleigh were seen on their phones.

Officers faced a range of excuses with one motorist saying that he was just checking his bank account to see if he had been paid.

He hadn’t – and now he has to pay the £100 fine.

Another even said how he thought the police were being hypercritical “because they hate it when they see people using their phones while driving”.

But while officers targeted those on their phones they were not turning a blind eye to other law breakers.

While in the unit’s unmarked police car officers stopped a motorcyclist who undertook them along the M3, before racing ahead at 89mph.

With their hi-tech equipment on board, officers were able to film the incident and play it back to the biker, who faced three points and a £100 fine.

During the three hours with the team, a total of ten drivers were caught using their phones, one was stopped for not wearing their seatbelt and two cars were seized, one for not having tax and another for not having insurance.

Two motorists faced a ticket for careless driving and one car was stopped for having a broken break light.

Sergeant Andrew Gwyers said: “We are finding that a lot more people are using their phones to look at text messages or for the Internet, rather than calls, but to me that is probably more dangerous.

“Roads are dangerous places, vehicles are obviously moving around quite quickly and for you not to have your complete attention on the road leaves you at risk and other roads users.

“I would appeal for all motorists to not use their mobile phones at all. The penalty is three points on your licence and a £100 fine.

That’s a lot more than the price of a cheap bluetooth set.

“For any journey you need to make please put your phone on silent, leave it out of reach, don’t be tempted and leave it alone.”

The penalties

If caught using your phone while driving you can expect an automatic fixed penalty notice of three points on your licence and a fine of £100.

The case could go to court and you could be disqualified from driving or riding and get a maximum fine of £1,000.

Drivers of buses or goods vehicles could get a maximum fine of £2,500.

As an alternative those caught may be offered a Driver Diversion Course as an alternative to prosecution. The cost of the course is £85.

The law

It’s illegal to ride a motorcycle or drive using hand-held phones or similar devices.

The rules are the same if you’re stopped at traffic lights or queuing.

It’s also illegal to use a hand-held phone or similar device when supervising a learner driver or rider.

You can use hands-free phones, sat navs and two-way radios when you’re driving or riding.

But if the police think you’re distracted and not in control of your vehicle you could still get penalised.

You can use a phone in your vehicle only if you need to call 999 in an emergency and it’s unsafe or unpractical to stop or if you are safely parked.