The cost of using hand-held phones while driving

Four motorists have discovered the cost of using a mobile phone at the wheel.

The men were sentenced at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court last week after guilty of or using a hand-held phone while driving.  Their fines and costs added up to just over £6,100 and three of the drivers each received six points on their licences while the fourth was banned from driving for six months.  

Inspector Jason Baxter, Roads Policing, said "This is just a snap shot of the  mobile phone offences we see each day. We also see the consequences of drivers who are distracted when they use a mobile while driving.  Not maybe every day, but more than we should; the consequences can be deadly.  There can be no excuse, no I was just, no I was only - no excuse."   

A fixed penalty fine of £200 and six points with potential bans from totting up awaits drivers who use a hand-held phone when driving.

Drivers who opt to go to court face up to a £1,000 fine (£2,500 if behind the wheel of a lorry or a bus), six points and potential bans from totting up if found guilty of the offence, plus costs and surcharges.   

If you get six points within two years of passing your test you will lose your licence and having points on your licence will result in higher insurance costs. 

A 58-year-old-man stopped while driving a Mercedes car on Lincoln High Street pleaded guilty and was banned from driving for six months with a fine of £120 with costs of £698 - a total of £818.

A 33-year-old-man who was stopped on the A46 Lincoln Bypass, driving a white DAF HGV flatbed pleaded guilty and was fined £540 and given six points with £616 in costs – a total of £1,156.

A 39-year-old-man stopped in a Vauxhall Vivaro on the A17 at Holdingham found guilty and fined £1,500, given six points and ordered to pay costs of £1,250 - a total of £2,750.

A 40-year-old-man driving a Dacia on Trinity Street in Gainsborough, was found guilty and fined £576, given six points with costs of £880 – a total of £1,456.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said the force wanted to thank motorists who do not underestimate the dangers of using a phone while driving: “Picking up a phone even for a split-second, checking a message, changing music, checking directions can and does result in very serious collisions. Drivers are four times more likely to crash when using a phone.”