article_snippet: The number of drivers hauled before the courts for using mobile phone at the wheel has plummeted by nearly half.
article_snippet: Crashes from mobile phone use are on the rise but thousands fewer drivers are being punished for this deadly offence.
article_snippet: The research follows calls from Britain’s top traffic officer for drivers caught using their mobiles at the wheel to be banned.
article_snippet: An estimated 500,000 motorists break the law every day but ordinarily using a hand-held mobile at the wheel usually attracts only a £100 fine with three penalty points.
article_snippet: Across England and Wales, the number of prosecutions for using a mobile at the wheel fell from 35,255 to 19,650 between 2013 and 2011.
article_snippet: Research has suggested using a mobile slows reactions more than cannabis or alcohol use.
article_snippet: Drivers’ reactions fell by half while holding Drivers’ reactions phone and on a call, more than a third when texting and by a quarter during a hands-free call.
article_snippet: The number of crashes attributed to mobile phone use has grown by 12 per cent, from 378 in 2012 to 422 last year.
article_snippet: ‘If someone is caught twice using a mobile phone within a period of time we should be considering things like disqualifications.