108 drivers caught using phones in Hampshire

MORE than 100 drivers were caught using mobile phones in a crackdown.
A driver on a mobile phone  - picture posed by modelA driver on a mobile phone  - picture posed by model
A driver on a mobile phone - picture posed by model

It comes after police across the country united to target the problem in a week of action last month.

Now Hampshire police have revealed they caught 108 drivers using phones while driving.

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One driver, caught when The News joined roads policing officers in Portsmouth, had been using Spotify to change music.

It was the same action a lorry driver performed before crashing and killing a family of four on the A34.

In the week five others were stopped for being distracted at the wheel.

A spokeswoman said 78 per cent of those stopped were men, 59 per cent were driving cars, nine per cent were in lorries and 70 per cent were on urban roads.

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Hampshire Constabulary’s Road Safety Sergeant Rob Heard said: ‘We hope that this is an indication that people are listening to our warnings about how dangerous it is and that the use of mobile phones while driving is now being viewed by the public as seriously as drink driving.

‘However, just one person using their phone behind the wheel is one too many and all too often we are confronted with the devastating consequences of such actions.’

He added: ‘My advice is to turn your phone off whilst driving, put it out of reach and view, this way you will not be tempted to look at it and become distracted. It’s not worth the risk.’

The week of action took place from November 14 and police released numbers of those caught this week.