A road safety website with 12,000 reports of bad driving has called on the Police to double their efforts to catch drivers using handheld mobile phones.

The message from BetterDrivingPlease.com is in reaction to new figures released by the Ministry of Justice today (Wednesday 30th April).

The figures show that the number of drivers caught using a mobile has increased by a third: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7375432.stm

But Andrew McGavin from BetterDrivingPlease.com believes hundreds of thousands of drivers are still using handheld mobiles and are getting away with it.

He said: “BetterDrivingPlease.com was set up so anyone can report bad driving they see on roads. Of the 12,000 reports on the site, more than 2,500 involve a mobile phone.

“Despite using a mobile at the wheel being outlawed in 2003 and the penalties being increased last year, drivers are taking their chances and getting away with it.

“It’s down to the Police to try harder and catch more drivers. Motorists have to really believe they will be caught before they stop doing it.”

More than a year ago the law changed (27th February 2007), increasing the penalty for being caught driving while using a handheld mobile to £60 and three points.

Yet since then reports of drivers flouting the law received by BetterDrivingPlease.com have increased.

The site was set up in 2006.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• For any further information, quotes or interviews, a BetterDrivingPlease.com spokesman is available. Please email press@publicityheaven.com or call Paul Green on 08452 303049
• To find specific reports of bad driving, go to www.BetterDrivingPlease.com and enter the area in the Keyword search box
• You are welcome to publish any information you find on the website
• A factfile, logo, screenshots and other press resources are available online at http://www.betterdrivingplease.com/press.asp