The latest figures prove mobile phone use, texting being the main cause, kills more people than drunk driving. The main cause of “accidents” on the roads at this time is mobile phone related. As someone on the roads for hours daily I can honestly tell you mobile phone use behind the wheel is on the increase. Fewer drivers on mobile phones ‘caught by police’ 

The number of drivers caught using a mobile phone behind the wheel has almost halved in five years, the BBC can reveal. 

In 2011-12, 178,000 people were stopped by police in the UK, compared with under 95,000 in 2015-16.
Of the 43 police forces in the UK asked by the BBC, 37 gave figures for how many drivers had been caught using their phones while driving. 

The National Police Federation said the drop was due to fewer traffic officers. 

Police chiefs say officers can take different courses of action against offenders, including sending them on courses about the consequences of being distracted at the wheel, as well as prosecuting them.
Kent Police had the biggest percentage decrease in the number of drivers stopped for using a phone at the wheel, from 4,496 in 2011-12 to 723 in 2015-16 – a reduction of 84%. 

Wiltshire Police also saw a decrease in numbers from 2,008 to 412 in the same period – a drop of almost 80%.
Overall, the number of people stopped by police forces who responded to the BBC in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fell by 47% in the last five years, the BBC found. 

Mobile phone use in cars 

Over the past five years 

*   The number of drivers caught using a mobile phone has dropped by nearly a half

*   In 2012 the number of drivers caught was178,000

*   This fell in 2016 to 94,000

*   The number of police forces which provided usable data to the FOI request was 37 out of 43 
’Changing attitudes’ 
A spokesman for the National Police Chief’s Council said: “Budget cuts have impacted on the number of traffic officers, yet road policing enforcement is also a core duty of all police officers, as well as the specialist teams.”
Ch Con Suzette Davenport, from the council, said: “Police have adapted to significant increases in motorists’ use of mobile phones at the wheel, as well as phones themselves becoming much smarter. 
”Like drink driving, we have to work towards changing people’s attitudes.
”This problem cannot be solved by enforcement alone – we need to build awareness and make it socially unacceptable to use a mobile phone while driving.” 
Officers cut 
Jane Willetts, from the Police Federation for England and Wales, said: “It’s no surprise that our figures have dropped because the number of operational roads policing officers whose core role would be to target the mobile phone offences has significantly dropped as well. “Since 2000 the number of officers has almost halved. The two go hand in hand.” 
She said there were now fewer than 4,000 roads policing officers.
She said the federation welcomed new legislation to introduce “much tougher penalties” being proposed by the government. 
Under new rules expected to come in next year, drivers will get six points on their licence and face a £200 fine. Newly qualified drivers could be made to retake their test the first time they are caught. Source: BBC News