RAC reacts to National Police Chiefs' Council "community spotters" scheme to target mobile phone use at the wheel

Following the announcement that the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) will use "community spotters" to target repeat offenders as part of a week-long crackdown on mobile phone use at the wheel, RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams said:

RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams said: "While this is an unusual initiative, desperate times call for desperate measures. We know the use of handheld mobile phones at the wheel is at epidemic proportions and imaginative ways of tackling the problem are clearly needed. It is, of course, paramount that any such scheme needs to be very carefully managed.

"Police resources are stretched as a result of 27% reduction in roads police officers in the last five years so the chances of being caught for any motoring offence are dramatically lower. In order to stamp out handheld phone use while driving a major change in behaviour needs to take place so maybe schemes like this will help to bring that about."