Motorists using handheld Mobile phones when driving could be set to receive greater penalties and larger fines according to new plans recently set out by the Department for Transport.

As part of the planned crackdown of mobile phone use in cars, dangerous mobile fixed penalties will increase from £100 to £150. Serial offenders could also receive four penalty points instead of the current three.

For those caught using phones behind the wheels of heavy goods vehicles, the penalty points will double to six.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin was recently quoted on the BBC website as saying, “using a mobile phone at the wheel is reckless and costs lives – I want to see it become a social taboo like not wearing a seatbelt.

“The message is clear: keep your hands on the wheel, not your phone. If you keep taking calls while at the wheel, you could end up being banned from the road.”

These new proposals come off the back of date from 2014 which showed that mobile phone usage was a contributing factor in 21 fatal road accidents and 84 serious accidents.

Suzette Davenport, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, told the Guardian website, “we fully support this crackdown on dangerous drivers. Drivers must continue to be aware not only of the risks posed by being distracted by mobile phones while in control of a car, but the serious penalties which they will face if they are caught. We are unequivocal in our determination to keep all road users safe.”

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