200 Drivers a day caught on phones – Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

200 Drivers a day caught on phones – Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

More than 200 drivers a day were caught using their mobile phones whilst driving during a 4-week crackdown carried out by police.

Almost 6,000 motorists were penalised by the police force in the four weeks after the tougher penalties were brought into place, that is the equivalent to one driver every seven minutes.

Campaigners said the findings suggested many drivers were ignoring repeated warnings regarding the dangers of using mobiles whilst behind the wheel, despite a number of publicity campaigns and the risk of harsher punishments.

Since 1 March, drivers who are caught on their phones while drivers can receive six points on their license and a £200 fine, up from the previous penalties of 3 points and £100. The changes mean new drivers risk losing their license if caught on their phones.

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Swannells Transport – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

Calls for efforts to kerb illegal mobiles phone use intensified in the wake of a string of high-profile cases and research indicating that it is widespread.

Figures obtained after Freedom of Information requests show forces recorded 5,977 instances of drivers illegally using their phones in the four weeks starting from 1 March. Seven forces did not provide figures and some cases may not have been logged at the time of the FOI responses were issued, meaning the number of incidents could actually be considerably more.

The Metropolitan police registered the highest number of incidents (2,037), meaning more than 70 drivers a day were caught using a handheld phone on London’s roads.

Second in the charts was the Thames Valley police force with a total of 478m followed by Police Scotland (339), Hampshire police (280) and Cheshire police (224).

Some of the incidents included:

  • A lorry driver texting on the M2 in Kent
  • A driver on his phone while driving a school minibus with ten children on it in Manchester
  • Norfolk police stopped a woman who was responding to a message about her lost dog being found
  • A lorry driver was caught using his mobile phone whilst driving around a roundabout
  • A man was spotted doing his online banking while driving on the M5 near Birmingham

The RAC Foundation said the increased penalties were a start, but also said the figures for March suggested that the message still isn’t sinking in.

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Surge in Electrical Vehicle Sales – Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

Surge in Electrical Vehicle Sales – Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

The number of electric cars in the world accelerated past the two million mark last year, as prices fell and manufacturers launched new models.

Back in 2005, the number of battery-powered vehicles were in the hundreds globally. Ten years later, in 2015, there were one million and in 2016 sales jumped 60%.

Europe, the US and China accounted for more than 90% of electric vehicle sales last year, with China having the most amount of electric cars out of the three, according to research by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In some European countries, electric cars have become so popular in the last year that they are taking significant market share from petrol and diesel cars. In normal, almost a third of new cars sold are electric, the higher proportion in the world, followed by 6.4% in the Netherlands and 3.4% in Sweden.

Whilst the UK is a way behind in terms of annual figures, new figures show that in May a record 4.4% of new cars sold were hybrids or pure electric models. The UK government launches a scheme back in 2011 to help encourage people to buy electrical cars, since the scheme launched, over 100,000 electric cars have been sold under it.

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Swannells – General Haulage Specialists – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

The growth globally indicated a ‘“rapid market evolution” in electric cars, however, they still only make up 0.2% of all passenger cars, a figure that the IEA were eager to point out.

Clean vehicles director at the Brussels-based Transport and Environment group, Greg Archer, said: “The rapid rise in electric vehicle sales is a consumer-driven phenomenon rather than being down to the efforts of suppliers.”

Longer battery ranges, more charging ports and lower costs are responsible for the surge in demand of electric cars, he went on to say.

Worldwide, the IEA found there were 2.3 million charging points, although public ones were outnumbered six to one, suggesting that most drivers were recharging their batteries at home.

The IEA estimates there will be around 140 million electric cars on the road by 2030 if countries continue to meet the Paris climate deal’s goal of avoiding dangerous temperature rises.

Electric Haulage? – Swannells Transport – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

One popular brand of electrical cars is Tesla, they have recently said that they are working on making an electrical lorry that can be used for haulage and transportation with the hope that it will be on the roads by 2019.

Could the future of haulage be electrical?

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Thank you for reading the latest news from Swannells, for more information on any of our services, including our transportation services, contact us today.

Seize Phones Used Illegally By Drivers – Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

Seize Phones Used Illegally By Drivers – Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

Campaigners say a blunt and brutal measure may be needed after 8,000 people are caught using their mobile phone while driving in one week.

Police could be given the power to take mobile phones away from anyone caught using it illegally on the roads, according to the Police Federation.

Constable Jayne Willetts said the measure could act as a deterrent.

“As technology is rapidly progressing, I fear our legislation is already behind the times,” she said.

“Is the seizure of mobile phones or their Sim cards – along with an education system – the way forward, combined with fines? I don’t know, but it’s a question worth asking.”

The idea comes after figures reveal a record umber of drivers were caught using their phones in a week-long police crackdown on illegal phone use while driving.

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Swannells Transport – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

7,966 fixed penalty notices were handed out during the week-long crackdown back in November – the highest figure yet for a week-long crackdown on ‘distraction driving’

The previous three initiatives were in May 2015 were 2,690 fixed penalties were handed out, September 2015 were 2,276 fixed penalties were handed out and May 2016, were 2,323 penalties were handed out. Since then the figure has grown at an alarming rate.

The director of the RAC Foundation, Steve Gooding has called for a ‘blunt and brutal’ measure might be needed in order to tackle the problem.

“It would be a massive step to give police the power to mete out summary justice in this way.

“But with far too many people still flouting the law maybe it will take something as blunt and brutal as ‘you use it, you lose it’, to get the message across.”

Transport Minister, Andrew Jones has said before that he wants to make using a phone while driving just as socially unacceptable as drink-driving.

Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

Swannells Transport – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

Swannells – Haulage Companies in Cambridgeshire

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