The number drivers in England and Wales using a hand-held mobile phone has reached a seven year high according to The AA, with 13,332 drivers found guilty at court for the offence*. Compared to 6,990 drivers found guilty in 2022, the jump represents a 90% increase.
The law surrounding the use of a hand-held mobile phone was tightened in March 2022**, extending the type of devices contravening the law as well as expanding the definition of ‘using’ to include using a camera, accessing the internet and checking notifications.
“While our phones have become smart, it is dumb to play with it when driving.”
The AA believes this action, coupled with Police Forces across the country using roadside cameras, covert HGV’s and targeted periods of enforcement have contributed to the rise.
Analysis by The AA of figures released from the Ministry of Justice also show that driving without vehicle tax rose to an all-time high of 99,694 convictions, a year-on-year increase of 94%. Similarly, drivers failing to comply with red lights and signs were at a 12-year high of 11,940 guilty verdicts.
Speeding cases down, but drink and drug driving remain static
Elsewhere, court cases for speeding offences fell by 8% with more than 203,500 guilty verdicts handed to drivers. When looking at motor insurance cases, driving a vehicle without insurance fell to 71,458 last year (76,390 in 2022), but keeping a vehicle without insurance reaching a four year high (58,690 in 2023 vs 40,392 in 2022).
Drink and drug driving related cases, seatbelt offences and driving whilst disqualified also remained at similar levels to 2022.
In total, 732,758 drivers were in the dock for motoring related offences with 672,901 being found guilty – a conviction rate of 92%, showing that drivers sat in front of a judge or magistrate are unlikely to get away with it. Motoring offences also took up the lions share of the courts time, with three in every five cases being for driving misdemeanours.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, said; “Despite a high-profile change in the law, it seems many drivers are still falling foul when it comes to using a mobile phone behind the wheel.
“While our phones have become smart, it is dumb to play with it when driving. The AA led the campaign*** for tougher enforcement and strong rules to stamp out this offence, but it seems too many fear missing out on their notifications. The best thing to do is convert the glove box into a phone box and keep the mobile out of reach.
“It is also concerning that driving without tax almost doubled in a year. While too early to tell if this rise is related to the cost of living, the high conviction rates should serve as a deterrent not to dodge paying for a virtual tax disc.”
* Data taken from “Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2023” held here; Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
** Using a phone, sat nav or other device when driving - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
*** Twice As Likely To Crash Text Driving As Drink Driving | AA (theaa.com)