Brake calls for investment in road policing

New figures show a drop of almost 40% in the number of people caught using phones behind the wheel, with road safety charity Brake calling for urgent investment in road policing.

The figures revealed by the BBC after a freedom of information request show that the number of people caught has dropped from 177,900 to 93,606 between 2011-12 and 2015-16. That is a reduction of almost 40%. The majority of the decrease has been seen in the last two years.

The Police Federation says the number of dedicated road traffic officers has been hugely reduced over the last few years. There has been a 23% reduction in the number of full-time equivalent traffic police officers from 5,635 in 2010 to 4,356 in 2014. Reductions have been experienced in 41 of the 43 forces.

The government recently confirmed plans to double fines and penalty points for using a phone behind the wheel, but without sufficient officers to enforce this, Brake is concerned even the new tougher penalties may not be seen as a real deterrent.

Twenty one police forces (see table below) saw their conviction rate drop by more than half and just two police forces have seen the numbers of people caught increase in that period: Norfolk and West Yorkshire.

Alice Bailey, communications and campaigns advisor for Brake said: “It would be wonderful to think this drop is down to people getting the message about the dangers of mobile phone use, but sadly we don’t think this is the case. A recent report called mobile use behind the wheel 'an epidemic', with our own studies showing more half of drivers in some age groups admitting they still use a phone while driving. As our police forces have faced major budget reductions, road traffic officers have too often been seen as a soft option for cuts, they are an essential part of the service and save lives. As the government brings in tougher new penalties for this crime it must make sure it resources our police forces properly so this is a real deterrent.”

 

How many drivers were caught using their mobile phones while driving
			2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
AVON/SOMERSET			1756	1371	1134	1060	854
BEDFORDSHIRE			1607	1421	1250	989	730
CAMBRIDGESHIRE			2268	2998	2840	2476	1828
CHESHIRE			3935	2677	3296	2277	2062
CITY OF LONDON			514	348	229	277	340
CUMBRIA			1383	1129	953	833	634
DERBYSHIRE			1523	1016	1311	1273	1217
DORSET			3539	2186	1531	1214	925		**
DURHAM			881	651	552	417	398
GLOUCESTERSHIRE			1124	868	889	790	857
GREATER MANCHESTER			7605	9140	4534	3024	2885
HAMPSHIRE			5936	5372	5479	6272	4986
HERTFORDSHIRE			3389	3425	3613	2743	1652
HUMBERSIDE			2934	2510	1557	1188	1137
KENT			4496	2747	1404	822	723
LANCASHIRE			6029	4774	2559	971	1093
LEICESTERSHIRE			1567	1324	1410	1209	653		**
LINCOLNSHIRE			1810	1473	1686	1405	1042
MERSEYSIDE			5772	4399	3615	4043	2490
MET			30923	28150	28045	23036	19610
NORFOLK			1935	1586	1022	836	2287
NORTH YORKSHIRE			2215	1412	998	786	702
NORTHANTS			1410	1110	794	658	489
SOUTH YORKSHIRE			3743	2690	2233	1640	1374
SURREY			3854	2655	2597	2339	1646
SUSSEX			5981	4268	2474	1846	1424
THAMES VALLEY			11221	11845	10668	10853	10103
WARWICKS			918	979	773	646	750
WEST MERCIA			2564	2565	3067	2235	2336
WEST MIDLANDS			6694	4100	2684	2140	2818
WEST YORKSHIRE			1335	4489	4741	2453	3107
WILTSHIRE			2008	1462	1372	664	412		**
NORTHERN IRELAND			9561	8420	7849	7193	6550
SCOTLAND			28311	30243	35732	17922	10061
DYFED POWYS			2603	2590	2488	1254	1493
NORTH WALES			1599	1800	1570	1518	1058
SOUTH WALES			2957	1985	1274	1316	880
TOTAL			177900	162178	150223	112618	93606
YR ON YEAR FALL				8.8	7.4	25	16.9