Cheshire police officers have issued more than 300 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) to motorists for using their mobile phone behind the wheel.
During February officers across the county took part in enforcement and educational activity in support of the National Police Chief Council's country-wide campaign.
Officers were out on the lookout for people using their mobile phone behind the wheel, or any of the other Fatal 5 offences (careless driving, speeding, drink/drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt).
Throughout the month 318 motorists were issued with a TOR for for driving while using a mobile phone compared to 32 motorists in February 2020.
Chief Inspector for Cheshire's Roads and Crime Unit, Rob Dickinson, said: "In line with the national focus, throughout February we targeted motorists using a mobile phone while driving, with the aim of making Cheshire's roads safer and preventing anyone being killed or seriously injured as a result of something completely avoidable.
"The fact that officers have issued more than 300 TORs throughout the month is astonishing. I have no doubt in my mind that everyone knows the dangers of using their phones behind the wheel, and that they shouldn't be doing it, yet so many people still do. Many people try and hide it down by their laps in a bid to avoid being caught."
"My question to those motorists who thought it was acceptable to use their mobile phone while driving and put other innocent road users lives at risk is, "was that call, text, DM, or scroll of your social media news feed really worth it?"
Comments
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it would be interesting to hear the age range data of those caught, the drivers I see most often on phones are quite young, I was behind a driver this morning who didnt see the lights change to green as they had their head down looking at/texting/facebook on his phone.
drivers just dont value their licences, and thats really sad, they have paid hundreds if not thousands to be able to drive, their jobs rely on it if they drive to work, if they dont value their licence then they sure as hell dont value theirs - or others lives due to not paying attention to the road.