A call has been issued to tighten up Highway Code rules for mobile phone users.
A new regulation came into force last month that means any drivers caught handling their mobile phone behind the wheel could face a £200 fixed penalty notice and six points on their licence. This also includes being stationary in traffic, such as at traffic lights or motorway queues - and drivers are only exempt from the new rule if they are making an emergency call.
However, a Conservative peer has questioned why the rule only applies to motorists and not other road users. Baroness McIntosh of Pickering opened a debate in the House of Lords on Wednesday and said she had been using a pedestrian crossing near Parliament earlier in the day when a cyclist approached with “one hand bicycling and one hand on [his] mobile phone” - as Wales Online reports.
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The life peer said the cyclist was on the wrong side of the carriageway and “it was not clear whether he was going to stop”, before urging the government to extend the recent Highway Code rule change to apply to all road users.
Transport Minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton responded to the call and assured the Tory peer that careless and dangerous riding of bicycles and e-scooters can still be punished under road traffic laws. She said fines of up to £1,000 for push bike riders and £2,500 for e-bike riders can be imposed.
The minister also said the use of e-scooters on public roads is illegal, except for in zones where they are undergoing an official government trial. Where this is the case, Baroness Vere said it is a punishable offence for riders to use mobile devices.
She also said the Highway Code is under constant review and that road safety is a “key priority” for the UK government. She added: “I am always appalled when noble Lords stand up in your Lordships’ House and tell me about things that have happened to them on the road and I am always rather embarrassed that I have not been able to stop it. But I do not stop trying.”
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