Motorists on mobiles could lose their driving licences

Motorists could lose their licences under new government proposals to stop drivers using mobile phones while behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Motorists could lose their licences under new government proposals to stop drivers using mobile phones while behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Ministers are planning to increase police powers to arrest drivers using a hand-held phone while driving. Those who are caught are likely to receive endorsement points on their licences. Twelve points in a three-year period can lead to an automatic ban.

The new measures are expected to be announced this summer by the Home Office.

The move follows extensive research by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) which concluded that no driver should use a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone while driving. Their conclusions were based on studies carried out across the world which showed that driver concentration was severely impaired by using a mobile phone. In Britain, police can prosecute only those drivers who are found to have lost control of their vehicle while using a mobile phone.

The RAC Foundation said the police would find any changes in the law unworkable unless they were properly thought through. "We would support a ban but simply passing a law would be like King Canute waiting for the waves to go back – it would be unenforceable," said the RAC's Kevin Delaney.