Scots drivers worst in UK for mobile phone use

A Scottish town has topped a table that ranks mobile phone use amongst drivers in the UK, The Herald reports.

Research based on data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) found that motorists in Motherwell were the worst offenders.

Seven other areas in Scotland appear in the top 10 list of locations ranked by the number of fines issued.

Offenders receive three penalty points as well as a £100 fine if caught. The numbers show that 3.29 per cent of drivers in Motherwell have the offence on their license.

Glasgow takes second place at 2.59 per cent.

Kilmarnock ranks third with 2.3 per cent of drivers guilty of using their phones while driving.

In Scotland overall, 1.51 per cent of drivers were caught, followed by London with 0.82 per cent.

A DVLA spokesman said: “Using a mobile phone and other hand-held devices, while driving, is a criminal offence. Studies have shown this to be a serious road safety risk.

“If this happens while driving a large vehicle such as a bus or lorry, the risk is even greater.”

A spokesman for Car Keys, which obtained the data from the DVLA, said: “Scotland filled the top eight worst areas in Britain. The least likely places to encounter a driver using their mobile phone are all in either West Midlands or in the South West.”

Tim Shallcross, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, attributed Scotland’s placing in the table to more effective policing.

He said: “I don’t think that there are more drivers using mobile phones on the roads in Scotland than there are in Manchester, Cardiff and London.

“But the fact that there’s just one police force makes it easier for any blitz on using mobile phones while driving to be effective, and that’s being what’s seen in these figures.”