Mobile Phones and Driving: Regulatory Impact Assessment
Mobile Phones and Driving - Offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving
Purpose and intended effect of measure
Objective
To improve road safety and reduce the number of road traffic accidents that may occur because drivers are distracted while using a hand-held mobile phone.
Background
The Government's Road Safety Strategy, Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone 1 , set a new target for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on British roads by 40% by 2010. The Strategy set out various ways to achieve the target. It contained a commitment to review the case for new legislation if drivers continued to use mobile phones whilst on the move.
Official road accident statistics do not record accident causation and therefore the number of casualties where a driver was using a mobile phone are not known. However, a report commissioned by the Department from RoSPA 2 summarised 19 cases that had been reported in the national press (between 1988 and 2001) where a death could be attributed to a driver using a mobile phone. Observations by TRL Ltd on behalf of the Department over the past 3 years show a gradual increase in the numbers of drivers using mobile phones while driving from 1.5% in November 2000 to 2.4% in April 2003.
Ongoing research for the Department into attitudes towards using mobile phones while driving indicate that some 70% of drivers consider it unacceptable to use a mobile phone while driving. However, many drivers also admit to using them in some circumstances. Only about a quarter of drivers say they would never answer a call while driving. A survey also sought views on whether there should be a ban on drivers using hand-held mobile phones while driving. Nearly 90% agreed that there should be a law to ban such use.
The Highway Code and the Department's publicity efforts continue to advise about the dangers. Home Office statistics of motoring offences do not specifically identify those involving mobile phone use. However, the police can, and do, prosecute drivers using their existing powers, under Regulation 104 of the Construction and Use Regulations, for failing to have proper control of their vehicle. Drivers also risk prosecution for careless or dangerous driving. However, with the increase in ownership of mobile phones, anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant number of drivers are ignoring the risks. In the circumstances, the Government has decided that a specific prohibition is now necessary.
This Regulatory Impact Assessment represents an assessment of the costs of introducing an offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving. It has been reviewed in the light of comments received in response to the Department's consultation letter dated 20 August 2002. The decision to create a specific offence was announced in the Department's letter of 24 June 2003 3 .
Risk Assessment
There is a comprehensive body of research into the effects of mobile phones and driving.
There is strong experimental evidence that engaging in a mobile phone conversation impairs the ability to react to potentially hazardous road conditions. Consistent with the experimental evidence, epidemiological research points to an association between mobile phone use while driving and an increased risk of involvement in an accident.
For example, the results of research by Redelmeier and Tibshirani (Canada, 1997) suggest that mobile phone use quadruples the risk of a collision during the period of a call and that the enhanced hazard period extends for several minutes afterwards. The authors admitted that it was difficult to compare exposures and that the baseline from which the quadrupling of risk was calculated may not have been stable. However, they revisited their work in 2001 and confirmed their earlier findings.
It would be impractical to attempt to summarise all the research here. However, the RoSPA report mentioned in paragraph 3 above includes summaries and references to relevant research. The report of April 2000 by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones 4 (the Stewart Report) also contains a summary of researches (paragraphs 5.201 to 5.214, pages 86 to 90) into the risks posed by mobile phones and driving.
Options
The following options were considered:
- to continue to rely on publicity and persuasion to change driver behaviour;
- to prohibit the use of all mobile phones when driving;
- to prohibit the use of hand-held mobile phones when driving.
In the light of consultation, the Department decided that the introduction of a new offence was justified but that it would be impractical to include hands-free phones within the scope of the new regulation because of the difficulties of enforcement.
Costs and Benefits
Those affected
The new offence will apply to the driver of any motor vehicle who uses a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving on a road. The new offence also applies to anyone who causes or permits someone to drive whilst using a mobile phone, such as an employer, and to those supervising learner drivers.
Costs
The Department does not recommend the use of any type of mobile phone while driving but drivers may decide to purchase hands-free equipment. Some employers already prohibit the use of phones by employees while driving while others may also decide to purchase hands-free equipment. Hands-free kits may be obtained for £15-20 with more sophisticated equipment starting at £50 for a dashboard cradle and up to £2-300 for professionally installed, permanently wired kit.
Some individuals or organisations may perceive that there will be a cost due to loss of efficiency if hand-held phones cannot be used while driving. This cannot be quantified, particularly as the Highway Code already advises drivers never to use a hand-held mobile phone. However, any costs could be minimised by the use of voicemail and regular stops to make or take phone calls.
There will also be costs for the police and the courts in dealing with offenders. This will depend upon the level of additional enforcement as the police already use existing powers to prosecute those who use mobile phones while driving. For example, Gwent Constabulary undertook an enforcement campaign in January 2001, which resulted in 43 fixed penalty notices and 22 cautions. A Norfolk Constabulary campaign over 2 months in 2001 resulted in 132 fixed penalty notices. If each of the 51 police forces in Great Britain carried out a similar level of enforcement this could result in the issue of some 40,000 fixed penalties annually.
We envisage that the police would enforce the new regulation as part of their normal traffic policing duties and that no additional resources are needed for this. Nevertheless, the new offence may result in the issue of some 50,000 - 100,000 fixed penalty notices a year and 2,000 - 5,000 prosecutions in court. This would raise some £1.5 - 3m in fines a year (assuming a fixed penalty of £30 until the law is changed and offence is subject to endorsement. The fixed penalty fine would then become £60). Court costs are expected to amount to a maximum of £3m a year depending on the level of enforcement.
The Department already runs publicity campaigns to warn drivers of the dangers of using mobile phones while driving. It will undertake publicity before the introduction of the new offence and the cost of this will be met from the Department's existing budget.
Benefits
All road users will benefit from any reduction in accidents arising from the use of hand-held mobile phones by drivers.
The value of preventing a road fatality is calculated (using 2001 casualty figures) at some £1.19m 5 . For a serious injury this figure is some £134,000 and for a slight injury it is over £10,000. Preventing a damage only road accident is valued at over £1,400.
There is no statistical baseline of the numbers of accidents involving use of a mobile phone from which to judge the likely reduction in the number of casualties once the new regulation comes into force. However, the value of preventing, say, 1% of road casualties in Great Britain in 2001 would be £41m for fatalities, £49.75m for serious injuries and £27.25m for slight injuries (a total of £118m).
Equity and fairness
Road traffic legislation applies to all drivers. We do not consider that any social exclusion issues are likely to arise from prohibiting hand-held mobile phone use whilst driving. Similarly, we do not consider that there will be any significant environmental impact arising from the introduction of the new offence.
Impact on Small Firms
We do not expect any additional impact on small firms. As noted above, drivers should not use hand-held phones and already risk prosecution if they do so.
Competition Assessment
The new regulation will apply to all drivers. Similar provisions have been adopted by over 30 countries world-wide and no competition issues are considered likely to arise.
Enforcement and Sanctions
The police are responsible for enforcement of all road traffic law. Offenders will initially be subject to a fixed penalty of £30 or a fine on conviction of up to £1,000 (£2,500 for drivers of lorries, buses or coaches). However, when a suitable legislative opportunity arises, it is the intention to make the offence subject to endorsement of 3 penalty points, when the fixed penalty will rise to £60.
Monitoring and Review
The Department will continue to monitor mobile phone use by drivers to review the impact of the new offence on driver behaviour.
Consultation
The Department received 1,040 responses to its request for comments on the proposal to introduce a new offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving. In the light of these comments the Department revised the proposals and set out results of the consultation in a letter dated 24 June 2003 6 , sent to all those who responded to the consultation.
Application to the United Kingdom
The new offence will apply throughout Great Britain. The creation of a similar offence in Northern Ireland would be a matter for the Northern Ireland Office. Any subsequent amendment to Regulations in Northern Ireland would be a matter for Northern Ireland's Department of the Environment.
Summary and recommendation
Following consultation in 2002, the Department announced on 24 June 2003 the intention to introduce a new offence to prohibit the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving. There will be costs arising from the prosecution of offenders and some drivers and employers may decide to purchase hands-free equipment. However, the measure is expected to improve road safety and the Department will continue to advise drivers not to use any type of phone while driving.
It is recommended that the Statutory Instrument containing the new offence should be made and that it should come into force on 1 December 2003.
Ministerial declaration
"I have read the Regulatory Impact Assessment and I am satisfied that the benefits justify the costs."
Signed
David Jamieson MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Transport
Date: 20 October 2003
Contact point
Road Safety Division 6
Department for Transport
Zone 2/11
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR
Telephone: 020 7944 2046
E-mail: road.safety@dft.gsi.gov.uk.
1 Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone, is available from DfT Free Literature, PO Box 236, Wetherby, LS23 7NB (reference 99ARSE0998 or may be accessed at www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_control/documents/contentservertemplate/dft_index.hcst?n=6234&l=1
2 The Risk of Using a Mobile Phone While Driving, published by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Rospa House, Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Birmingham B5 7ST, telephone 0121 248 2000 (fax 2001), or may be accessed at www.rospa.com/pdfs/road/mobiles/report.pdf
3 Available from the Department telephone 020 7944 2046 or on-line at www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_508356.pdf
4 Mobile Phones and Health (April 2000). The report of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (Chairman, Sir William Stewart), c/o National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RQ. The report can be accessed at http://www.iegmp.org.uk/report/text.htm
5 Highways Economic Note No 1 is available from DfT Free Literature, PO Box 236, Wetherby, LS23 7NB or may be accessed at www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/pdf/dft_rdsafety_pdf_507642.pdf.
6 See note 3
