NEW YORK-Following a six-month jail sentence imposed May 23 on a cellular phone caller who killed another motorist, the British government said it will consider whether to outlaw outright mobile phone use by drivers while their vehicles are in motion.
Baroness Hayman, Roads Minister, said she would consider whether to introduce a specific ban and warning into the national Highway Code, and whether to direct cellular phone retailers to caution customers about the dangers that using such devices while driving can pose.
Lady Hayman decided to act after Peter Mill, 34, was convicted and jailed for six months at Reading Crown Court for causing the death of another motorist. Geoffrey Murray, 54, died from his injuries in the September 1994 crash in Bracknell, Berkshire.
Mill, a businessman, claimed in court that he had finished a call to his message service, switched off his phone and put it down just before his car crossed to the wrong side at a bend in the road and collided head-on with Murray’s van. But the prosecutor said the phone company hadn’t received an “end” signal following Mill’s 23-second call.
In a radio interview May 24, the day after Mill’s sentencing, Lady Hayman said she wants drivers to understand, “that they can be successfully prosecuted, that it’s dangerous to themselves and to other people, and that if they want to use a mobile phone in the car, they should stop the car first.”
As now written, the federal Highway Code advises against using a handheld telephone while driving and against using a hands-free telecommunications device if doing so will take the driver’s mind off the road. “The Code is being revised and amendments will be made in light of new evidence on the use of mobile phones,” the British Department of Transport had announced May 19.
The Federation of Communications Services, the mobile phone industry’s representative trade body, issued a statement encouraging greater road safety by Britain’s 7 million cellular phone users.
“I recognize the concerns of many about the use of mobile phones in cars and welcome the action already taken by the mobile phone industry to encourage greater road safety, (but) I believe that further action needs to be taken to increase public awareness of the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving,” Baroness Hayman said during a House of Lords hearing last month, before Mill’s sentencing. “Drivers need to be better convinced that driving and mobile phones don’t mix. I am looking forward to discussing the matter further with the mobile phone industry to see how best we can deliver the message to drivers.”
The Police Federation, which represents most of Great Britain’s rank-and-file police officers, announced its support to codify a specific prohibition on mobile phone use while operating a moving vehicle.
“Driving today needs more concentration than ever, and you cannot concentrate whilst you are on the telephone,” said Mike Bennett, a spokesman for the Police Federation who said he was hit by a driver using a mobile phone.
“It makes you very wary and very conscious of the number of people using them,” Bennett said.
The driver who hit him was fined for driving without due care and attention, Bennett said. But there isn’t any specific offense on the books for using a cellular phone while driving. Police can and often do stop drivers, especially on highways, who are using mobile phones. But the Police Federation’s position is that enforcement would be easier if the law were to specify mobile phone use while driving as an offense.
“Recent court cases do show, however, that the police can and do successfully prosecute the offenses of dangerous driving, careless driving or failure to exercise proper control of a vehicle that may arise from the use of a mobile phone while driving,” Baroness Hayman told the House of Lords.
For dangerous driving, the Highway Code imposes maximum penalties of two years in prison, an unlimited fine, a minimum driver’s license revocation period of one year and extended driver skill retesting as a condition of license renewal.
For careless and inconsiderate driving, the code imposes a maximum fine of $4,000, permits license revocation and endorses imposition of three-to-nine penalty points on the driver’s license. For failure to have proper control over an automobile, the code imposes a fine of up to $4,000.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also is calling for tougher restrictions on cellular phone use in cars, but the Automobile Association urged caution. Rebecca Rees, an AA spokesman, said she opposed a ban and warned it would be difficult to enforce. She said that drivers also take their eyes off the road to change cassettes or check on children in the back seat.
“Mobile phones have come a long way, and you can get them now where you don’t even need to touch [the handset] in order to make or receive a call,” Rees said. “Also, bear in mind that 1,200 calls every day are made from mobiles to the emergency services, many of which are life-saving calls; so, if we had a complete ban, there would be problems.”
After Mill was convicted and sentenced May 23 in the death of her husband, Lynn Murray urged drivers not to use cell phones while their vehicles are moving.
“I would ask you to all think before you make that call. Pull over and stop first,” she said. “Those few seconds can make all the difference and save a life.”
