Article

Are you breaking the law?

Tougher new penalties for driving whilst using a hand held phone came into effect on 27 February 2007. Although hands free phones are legal, you still risk prosecution for not having proper control of a vehicle if you are caught driving poorly whilst using one and the same penalty as explained above applies. Furthermore, for drivers involved in an incident or crash the use of any phone could be justification for the charges of careless or dangerous driving for which the penalties include heavy fines, endorsements on your licence, disqualification or even imprisonment. According to the Direct Line Mobile Phone Report 2002, reaction times for drivers using a hand-held mobile phone are on average slowed by 50% and they are 4 times more likely to have a crash. In relation to personal injury claims, drivers using any type of phone at the time of their accident are likely to face arguments of contributory negligence if they could have reacted quicker or taken action to avoid an incident had they not been distracted by using a phone. Interestingly, a recent survey of 674 drivers undertaken by the Institute of Advanced Motorists found that drivers of family cars were the most likely to offend the mobile phone rules (21.5 %), followed by those in light commercials or vans (17.8 %). Drivers of sports and high performance cars were least likely to commit the offence (6.2 %) followed by those at the wheel of: large commercial vehicles (10.2 %); 4x4s (12.6 %); small family cars (15.1 %) and large/executive cars (16.5 %).

New laws on child seats also came into force on 18 September 2006 in the hope that they would prevent approximately 2,000 child injures/deaths per year. Children must use a child seat or booster until they reach the age of 12 or a height of 1.35 metres (4ft 5in), whichever comes first and drivers are also responsible for ensuring that children up to the age of 14 wear a seatbelt. Nevertheless, in December 2006 a survey by “What Car?" magazine found that 65% of parents had still not fitted child seats correctly and only 35% of parents knew the specifics of the new laws, despite the government’s £600,000 publicity campaign. Not only are there the obvious matters of the child’s safety and a potential fine to consider but, again, the new rules can also have an impact on personal injury claims.

Imagine the following scenario - Mrs Smith is driving her car with her 10 year old son Joe, who is under 1.35 metres tall, as a rear seat passenger. Joe is not in a child seat or booster. Another vehicle collides with Mrs Smith’s car, through absolutely no fault of Mrs Smith, causing injury to Joe. Usually in such a scenario liability would be expected to rest 100% with the other driver. However, following the new car seat rules, if the medical evidence suggests that Joe’s injuries would not have occurred at all or would not have been as serious had he been in a child seat or booster then Mrs Smith could be either wholly or partly legally responsible for Joe’s injuries and may face a claim against her by her son. Whilst the public may remain confused about the new rules and the police maybe being lenient, ignorance is unlikely to stand up in the civil courts.

For further enquiries please contact Jonathan Clement (view full profile) on 01892 701264 or email jclement@ts-p.co.uk.

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